


a kiss a day (and i can't keep away)

by hopeboos



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Beach Holidays, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Idols, M/M, Making Out, Practice Kissing, Sharing a Bed, seungkwan is big dumb dumb and wonwoo is whipped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25091371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeboos/pseuds/hopeboos
Summary: “Jeonghan is getting a full mermaid's tail, and Soonyoung is already practising his flips, and they’re renting out a whole football field for Seokmin and Vernon—we’ve already got the most boring of all the concepts, so we should at least try to make it look good, right? Natural, no awkwardness.”“Sure,” Wonwoo says, adjusting his glasses. “What did you have in mind?”“Are you really going to make me say it?”Wonwoo looks at him, slightly bemused. “Are you seriously suggesting we do kissing practise?”orWonwoo and Seungkwan are cast as a couple for their new music video, and Seungkwan comes up with a plan for their preparation.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Jeon Wonwoo
Comments: 61
Kudos: 256





	a kiss a day (and i can't keep away)

**Author's Note:**

> *blows kiss into the void* the other 2.5 wonbooists out there, this is for you

It’s sprung on them during their third group meeting about the comeback. Group meetings are rare, mostly because getting all thirteen of them in a room with producers and writers and designers and an array of PLEDIS managerial staff is a task in itself. The first meeting had been about the direction they’d decided to go in, the sort of sound the company was proposing. The second meeting had been about choreography and aesthetics, the colour scheme and line divisions and centre positions. This meeting is about the music video, the stages, the schedule: their concept as a whole, really, because the music video sets the precedent for it.

“We’re going to take a new direction,” their production manager Soohyun is telling them as he stands at the head of the table, gesturing to a detailed PowerPoint presentation behind him. “Fans respond well to a single storyline spanning across a group’s general concept. We’ve found that it’s been advantageous for other groups, in gaining fanbases—fans like to make connections between contents, and it encourages digging deeper, re-watching old and new clips. To try and create our own brand of storytelling through Seventeen’s music, our creative team has decided to pair each of you up into different storylines. We think they will eventually connect together, bringing together your different strengths.”

“What sort of storylines?” Soonyoung asks, only a second before Seungkwan can. More focus on acting in their music videos? Sounds like fun.

“For example, we thought you and Myungho could be acrobats in a circus setting,” Soohyun says, clicking onto the next slide, where an array of concept pictures are collated together. He can see figures fighting or laughing or posing in different settings, a green forest, a red tent with golden lights. A beautiful beach, a vast football stadium.

The sight earns a noise of satisfaction from Soonyoung, and Minghao is nodding behind him, looking pleased. “That would be cool.”

“No roles have been allocated with yet, but we think these are the concepts we’ll be working with, if you guys don’t have any objections.” He clicks again, and a list appears on the screen.

  * Acrobats
  * Secret agents
  * Sportsmen
  * Superheroes
  * Magical beings
  * Newly married couple



“Oh, please make Jihoon a fairy!” Seokmin exclaims. “People would love that!”

“I’m sorry,” Seungcheol says, half-raising his hand. “Isn’t one of these too different to the others?”

“Right,” Jeonghan says, leaning forwards. “Are you going to pair us up with an actress, or do you want two of us to act like a couple?”

“Ah,” Soohyun says, glancing at their CEO, Han Sungsoo, who is sitting quietly at the other end of the table. “This is an important part of the new direction, actually. We think showing a fictional relationship between two of you would please fans, and make a statement, bringing attention to your comeback. The new generation is in favour of such things.”

“Wait,” Chan says. “So, two of us, together? Do you mean like, showing a wedding?”

“No, no, not the wedding. It would be some simple romantic scenes, like a date by the beach, holding hands, maybe a short kissing scene. We’re still discussing with the PR team about how much would be wise to include.”

“A kiss scene?” Seokmin says, as Chan devolves into laughter. “Between two of us?”

“See, you think it’s a little shocking, right?” Soohyun says, pointing at him. “This is why we think it would really help promote the new title track. It’ll catch the attention of newcomers, and it might even make headlines, get people talking about the new song.”

“Isn’t it kind of weird for us to do that, though?” Joshua says. “We’re all friends. I think if we were going to vote one concept out, it would be that one.”

“Right,” Jihoon agrees, readily. “That idea doesn’t work for all of us.”

“There’s also the issue of whether we should we be the ones to do something like this,” Vernon says. “It’s one thing to show the group as progressive, but another for us to depict a relationship like that. None of us are openly gay. Should we be the ones to make this sort of statement?”

“I’m afraid this one is non-negotiable,” their CEO speaks up, voice firm. “It’s the concept we have the clearest direction on, and it’ll bring the most attention to the new concept. If there’s anyone who’s certain they want to back out of this role, raise your hand now.”

He’s not entirely sure why he doesn’t raise his hand. He registers the question just fine, realises the consequences of his actions—instinct says it would be terribly awkward to kiss any of the members, because he doesn’t like any of them like that. But he also doesn’t mind kissing all that much. It’s pretty fun, and he hasn’t been with anyone in a while. If there’s someone here willing to do some platonic strictly-for-the-camera kissing, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. He’s never been one to back down from a challenge, after all.

He turns back to find a surprising number of hands left unraised; Seokmin, Wonwoo, Chan, Mingyu, and Soonyoung have all agreed to it. Junhui, who’s always been blatantly gay, and Seungcheol, who’d come out to them as bisexual years ago, both have their hands up. As does Vernon, who’s said before that gender doesn’t matter to him much in dating. Interesting.

“Then we’ll choose from the six of you,” Sungsoo says, pleased with their response. “That way it’ll be painless for you, right? Thank you for showing willing.”

Seungkwan eyes daggers at Chan. By God, he doesn’t want to have to kiss him, the little brat. Or Mingyu. He’s a looker for sure, but he would be an even worse brat to try and film a relationship with. Soonyoung is a menace, too, he thinks he might end up strangling him if they had to pretend to be in love…. Seokmin might be okay, though, if a bit awkward. He thinks they could laugh it off together. As for Wonwoo—he’s struggling to imagine Wonwoo kissing anyone, never mind kissing Seungkwan. He’s surprised he even volunteered.

He can’t believe he’s shortlisting potential kissing partners out of his best friends. This is a terrible idea.

Soohyun clears his throat. “Regardless, six concepts would pair up twelve of you, and we were thinking of having one of you be a protagonist character—moving between each universe, perhaps fetching the members, or helping them. Chan or Seungcheol are our first choices, but really it can be—”

“I’d like to do that!” Chan says, enthusiastic, and Mingyu snorts at him.

Seungcheol shrugs, good-natured. “Yeah, I don’t mind. He’d probably be better than me at that.”

“Alright. If there are no other issues, we’ll go ahead and plan out this concept over the next few weeks, then get back to you with a more detailed storyboard.” He waits, looking around at them, but no one speaks up. Soohyun nods at them, ending the presentation behind him. “Thank you for your attendance. We’ll get back to you on your roles as soon as we can.”

The chairs surrounding the table scrape back and people start to stand, collecting up their belongings. Seungkwan groans and stretches as he stands—it’s been a long meeting on a long day, the sky long gone dark outside.

“Can I have the five of you stay for a minute?” Han Sungsoo says, standing and gesturing to the five of them who’d opted in for the couple concept, minus Chan. People quickly filter out around them, leaving the room quiet in their wake, and leaving Seungkwan looking at Mingyu’s stupid grin. He’s regretting his decision more and more with every passing second.

“Have fun,” Chan tells him as he passes, patting Seungkwan’s shoulder.

“I will now that you’re leaving,” Seungkwan says, and it makes Chan laugh, open and loud.

It doesn’t take long for five of them to be the only ones left in the room, along with Soohyun and their CEO. Soohyun is scribbling their names onto pieces of paper, then tearing them off and folding them up.

“It’s better to decide this now, so you’re not distracted over the next few weeks of preparations, or shocked when you get on set. You all realise that this is part of your job, right? I’m not expecting you to make any political statements along with this. It’s a role you’re playing. Understood?”

“Right,” Seungkwan murmurs, and the others make similar noises of agreement. On the other side of the table, Wonwoo awkwardly shifts his weight between his feet.

With five slips of paper in hand, Soohyun cups his hands together and shakes them up, then holds his hands out to Han Sungsoo.

“Do you all agree this is a fair way of picking? It’s completely random, and you’ve all chosen to be here. You’ll be committing to the role we’ve spoken about, correct?”

There’s another murmur of agreement from them all. He wonders if the others are starting to have their regrets too.

Han Sungsoo reaches out, picks a slip of paper, and unfolds it.

“Boo Seungkwan,” he says, placid.

“Oh,” he groans, sitting down heavily. “Of course. Why is it always me? I’ve sealed my own fate.” Mingyu laughs at him, and he drops his head onto the table for dramatic effect.

“You did sign up for this,” Soonyoung reminds him, voice nervous.

“My life is a joke,” he bemoans into the table.

“Jeon Wonwoo,” their CEO says, somewhere over his head.

He looks up again, mouth open.

Seokmin proceeds to whoop for them, as Soonyoung cries out in delight, wrapping his arms around Seungkwan’s shoulders and shaking him. “You signed up for this!” he repeats, now sounding a lot more delighted by it.

“Seungkwan and Wonwoo,” Mingyu sings, proceeding to dance in front of Seungkwan like a six-foot tall toddler. “Kissing in a tree!”

“Do you want to die, or what?” he says, standing again to square up with Mingyu.

“You’re free to go, Mingyu, Soonyoung, Seokmin,” Sungsoo says, pointedly.

Mingyu sticks his tongue out at Seungkwan, but they all take the hint, and go pick up their belongings and move to the door. Soonyoung grins at him as he passes by, and Seungkwan resists giving him the finger.

When the door swings shut behind them, the room is quiet.

“I hope you’ll both take this role seriously. I know it might be awkward, but you’re used to complying with fanservice by now. The two of you make an unusual combination, I admit, but at least it’s fresh. Something new. Do you think you can cooperate to fulfil your part of the new concept?”

“Yes,” Wonwoo says calmly. Seungkwan looks at him then—he doesn’t seem bothered at all, eyes on their CEO, hands steady.

Seungkwan doesn’t particularly want to show weakness here. Wonwoo is a hyung who’s always been kind to him, sturdy and dependable whenever Seungkwan needed him. How bad could some stage kissing be? It’s only Wonwoo. Of everyone in the group, he could’ve pulled someone much worse. He could’ve been left trying to convince Jihoon to kiss him. Or dodging Mingyu’s big, annoying hands.

“It’s fine,” he says. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

-

He doesn’t sleep at all that night. The burden of his new job climbs over him, works its way into each ear and crowds his brain, leaving him no space to breathe. He’s agreed to kiss Wonwoo, in front of a camera, for the whole world to see—this will be a part of his career forever, and Wonwoo’s, and people will make theories, and probably ask them terrible invasive questions, and the screenshots will haunt him for the rest of his life. And on top of it all, he’ll always know what it’s like to kiss his quiet, clever, generous Hyung.

This is so embarrassing.

When it reaches dawn, and the birds in the nest on the side of their building start to sing, he sighs. Sits up, rubs his eyes, and walks through to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water.

Daybreak is starting to come in through the blinds, so he doesn’t bother turning the lights on, choosing to navigate the kitchen in the half-light. He picks out a glass, runs it full of water, and takes a sip. He should probably find that expensive lip balm he bought a while ago and start using it again. Maybe give some to Wonwoo, too, and hope he takes the hint. You know, to make things easier for them both.

“Seungkwan?” Wonwoo’s voice says, and he almost drops his glass, swallowing his mouthful of water hastily. Somehow, he always forgets that Wonwoo sleeps in the living room.

“Sorry,” he says, wiping his mouth. “Did I wake you up?”

“No, I was already awake,” Wonwoo murmurs, and Seungkwan can see his outline by the window, propped up in bed and looking over at him. “You too?”

“Yeah,” he admits. “Are you worried?”

“A little.”

“For the filming, right?”

“Yeah. I would be for any kiss scene, I think.”

“So why did you agree to do it?”

Wonwoo sits up, wrapping the blankets over his shoulders. “Because the company seemed pretty set on the idea, didn’t they? And I know some of the others are a lot less comfortable with that sort of thing. It seemed fair to volunteer when I don’t mind it so much.”

“You really don’t mind it? Kissing a friend?”

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t think you would also agree to it. I expected it to be someone like Soonyoung. But I don’t mind. We get on well, don’t we? I’m glad it’s not Mingyu, at least. I love him, but fans ask me strange questions about him sometimes.” He gestures between the two of them. “People don’t pay as much attention to the two of us. It could be fun.”

“Fun?” he says, choking on a laugh. “I feel like it’s going to be a train wreck.”

“Are you that bad at kissing?”

“No!” he exclaims, then covers his mouth, aware of his volume and the early hour. He rounds the counter, coming to sit next to Wonwoo on his bed. It’s easier to see him properly here, hair messed up and face washed clean of makeup. “It’s just a bit strange, isn’t it? We’re not actors. Well, I’m not. And they’re telling us we have to act all in love and stuff. Oh, God.”

“Why did you agree to it, then?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know, honestly. Same as you, I suppose. I knew there would be others who’d hate it more, and I’d rather try and do it properly than let someone else feel burdened by it.”

“So it’s selfless, then? Selfless kissing?”

“Shut up, it’s not like that,” he says knocking into his side. “I’m the same as you, I suppose. At least we’re on the same page about all this.”

“Sure. Then let’s try and worry about it less, right? We won’t be filming for another few weeks, anyway. And we might not even have a kiss scene. It was just a suggestion.”

“Right. It would be kind of shocking to have something like that. Maybe we won’t.”

“Maybe we won’t.”

“We’ll probably just be going on a date and holding hands. I can do that.”

“Sure. Whoever gets the superhero concept are probably going to be put in harnesses and thrown about and stuff. Good luck to them.”

“I think I might die if they’d made me do that. Maybe we actually got off easily.”

“Having a date with you sounds like a fun filming, really.”

“Just like when we went to the Sushi place last week!”

“Right? We just have to act like that, except we smile at each other more.”

“Wasn’t I smiling at you before? I know you were smiling at me plenty.”

“I was?”

“Yeah. You’re cute, hyung,” he tells him, patting his leg and sipping at his water again. “We’ll be fine. We just have to get around the teasing from the others for a few weeks, and focus on the rest of the comeback for now. Who knows, maybe the new choreo will kill us before we even get to film the music video.”

“Don’t say that too loud, or Soonyoung will take it as a challenge.”

“Lovebirds,” Chan says from the entrance of the hallway. They both startle at the noise, looking around to see him leaning against the wall there, arms crossed and watching them. “I know you have a lot to talk about, but some of us are trying to sleep.”

“How long have you been there?” he demands, standing up and clutching his glass of water. He has half a mind to pour it over his head for being a nosy little twerp.

“How long have you been the worst roommate ever? You could have at least shut the bedroom door behind you if you were planning on having an early morning rendezvous with Romeo here—”

“Only as long as you’ve been the most annoying kid in my life,” he says, and Chan has the sense to back away as Seungkwan approaches him, glass in hand.

He grins before heading off to the bathroom, waving at Wonwoo as he leaves. “You’ve got just under two hours to catch some sleep before we have to be up for practise.”

“Noted,” Wonwoo says, saluting at Chan.

“Don’t agree with him,” he huffs, turning back to look at Wonwoo, who seems to have shrunk back under his covers.

“He is, unfortunately, factually correct,” he points out, laying back down. “You should try and get some sleep.”

“Only if you do.”

“No problem.”

“I’ll be checking on you in the morning,” he threatens.

From across the room, he can just make out Wonwoo smiling into his pillow. “You’d better.”

-

They get the full plan for the music video two weeks later, sent over by staff in the middle of their dance practise. By this point, they’ve worked through the full routine together, and now it’s only a matter of doing it over and over; making sure they’re dancing in time with each other, repeating the same moves until it’s driven into their bodies, impossible to forget, impossible to mess up. Until they have it down to perfection, they’re dedicated to long days of sweating in front of the mirror, of dancing until everything aches, then doing it all over again the next day.

So he doesn’t see the details until they’re sat in the car, being driven back home. Jeonghan makes a noise of appreciation from the front seat, and twists to look back at them all, phone in hand.

“What have you all been allocated? They want me to be a mermaid in the fantasy setting, with Junnie as an elf.”

“Oh, they’ve sent out the roles?” Seokmin asks, pulling out his own phone. Seungkwan lolls his head, too tired to reach for his. He knows what his role is, anyway.

“I’m in the secret agent team with Seungcheol,” Joshua says, and Seungkwan can see him scrolling through a block of text on his phone. “Jihoon, you’re in the superhero slot.”

“Seriously?” Jihoon perks up, looking around for his own phone. “Me?”

“Yeah!” Seokmin says from the back. “You and Mingyu! Vernon and I are champion footballers!”

“And Seungkwanie is making out with Wonwoo,” Jeonghan says. “How exciting!”

“Making out? Hang on, please don’t exaggerate these things,” he says, sitting up straighter.

“But it’s right here,” Joshua says, scrolling down until he reaches a set of images, then holding his phone out to Seungkwan. “Look, we have storyboards.”

The sketch shows a vague outline of him and Wonwoo on the beach, sun setting in the background. There’s an image of hands held together, two figures in front of the waves, and light coming into the shot filtering two side profiles in dark contrast. Then, in the next panel, they’re pressed close together, kissing in front of the view.

“Oh my God,” he says, feeling a little lightheaded. He’d kind of gotten over the whole kiss thing until right now, seeing a sketch of them kissing at sunset, drawn by someone from Pledis and approved by countless other staff members. Reality hits all over again; they’re expected to be filming this together in less than two weeks. “Oh, no. Why is my life a joke? Why did I choose to bear this burden?”

“Stop, it’s not that bad!” Seokmin says, laughing. Jeonghan is cackling to himself from the front seat as Joshua smiles back at Seungkwan, and Jihoon looks far too happy about this situation, too. He decides he can’t trust any of them. “It’s only Hyung! You can do it and then be over it.”

“You know as well as I do that no one will ever be over this,” he says, sliding further down into his chair. “I think God is punishing me.”

“Poor Wonwoo. I hope you’re not making him put up with all your complaining,” Joshua says.

“Poor Wonwoo? What about poor me!”

“What have you got to be worried about? I bet Wonwoo is a great kisser,” Jeonghan says, nonchalant. “He had that girlfriend for over two years, didn’t he? Until, like, Clap promotions, and he’s probably seen someone secretly since then. You know what he’s like. He clearly has plenty of experience. It’s you we have to worry about.”

“Me?” he says, incredulous.

“Sure,” Joshua agrees. “Have you even kissed anyone before? It would suck if it looked bad on screen, after all this.”

“Of course I have!” he splutters. Their poor driver is hunched in his seat, excluding himself from the conversation. “I had a girlfriend for a little while in Jeju, before I came to Seoul.”

“So when you were, what, twelve years old?” Jihoon grins.

“And then,” he continues loudly, “you know I had that relationship with Minkyung in our trainee period, that wasn’t a small thing—and then I had this brief thing with Moonbin last year—”

“Seungkwan!” Seokmin exclaims. “Moonbin?”

“Why did we never hear of that?” Jeonghan asks, eyes glinting as he looks back at Seungkwan.

“Because it’s none of your business!” he says hotly, though he can’t help but feel a little smug for proving them wrong so quickly. “The point is, Wonwoo is two years older than me, but we’re not even that different in experience.”

Jihoon settles back into his seat with a hum of acknowledgement. Jeonghan turns back around too, looking through his window with a shrug. “If you say so, Kwanie. As long as you know what you’re doing. It’s your role, after all.”

The rest of the drive passes in considerably more peace, and Seokmin starts to talk about the prosthetic designs for Jeonghan’s tail. Seungkwan settles back into his seat, looking out of the window, and doubt starts to creep into his mind. He’s kissed before, sure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s any good at it, or that it’s aesthetically pleasing for a camera. He digs through his memories for any compliments on his kissing technique from the aforementioned flings, wracks his brain thinking about the significant kisses of his past. As far as approval goes, he comes up blank.

Not ideal. But Seungkwan has never met a challenge he couldn’t tackle head-on. After a briefly crippling crisis over the matters of his love life, he starts to form a plan.

-

They order food in, as they often tend to do after a long day of practise, when no one has the energy to make food for thirteen people. Seungkwan gloomily sets about making himself a salad, strictly keeping to his diet with comeback just around the corner. Wonwoo joins him at the kitchen counter, having lost the rock-paper-scissors war for fetching drinks and plates.

“Hi.” He doesn’t look over at him, focused on the lettuce he’s ripping up.

“Hello,” Wonwoo says agreeably, opening the cupboard and hauling out their twelve-pack of beer.

“Did you see that the concept stuff was sent over earlier?”

“Yeah, I saw.”

He pauses for a beat. “Are you okay with it?”

Wonwoo glances at him. “Sure. It looks just like what they were talking about before.”

“Right,” he says, going for the celery, steadily chopping it into small pieces. Wonwoo dutifully walks back to the table with the cans.

It’s crazy, the idea he’d come up with on the car ride home. It’s genuinely insane, and could get him into real trouble, but he’d rather take the risk than end up looking clumsy and inexperienced in their music video, immortalised for the rest of his life. He’s already been paired with handsome-as-all-hell Wonwoo, the introverted, intelligent, quiet boyfriend figure of their group. Loud, short tempered and chubby-cheeked Seungkwan can’t exactly compare as a desirable boyfriend model, but he can sure as hell try to look like Wonwoo’s kissing equal in their on-screen relationship.

He puts the knife in the sink, throwing the celery into his bowl. There are a lot of unexpected dilemmas on the road to becoming a famous singer, he thinks.

After he’s eaten his salad and turned down a beer, Wonwoo has already drunk two in succession. When he gets up to go to the toilet, Seungkwan waits exactly a minute and a half before following after him, carefully avoiding suspicion from the others. He hovers outside his own bedroom at first, watching the bathroom door, waiting. Then the toilet flushes, the handle clicks, and Wonwoo opens the door—he jumps upon finding Seungkwan right on the other side, but doesn’t have time to comment before he’s being pushed back into the bathroom, Seungkwan shutting the door behind them.

“Hyung,” he says, determined. “I need to ask something of you, and I need you to listen to me like I’m not crazy.”

“Okay,” Wonwoo says, glancing at the door. “What is it?”

He takes a deep breath in, releases it out. “I think we need to practise.”

Wonwoo looks at him for a few beats. “Haven’t we been doing plenty of that recently?”

“No, I don’t mean that. Not dancing. I think we need to practise for our roles in the music video.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Yeah,” he says, finding himself glancing at Wonwoo’s mouth. “Jeonghan is getting a full tail, and Soonyoung is already practising his flips, and they’re renting out a whole football field for Seokmin and Vernon—we’ve already got the most boring of all the concepts, so we should at least try to make it look good, right? Natural, no awkwardness.”

“Sure,” Wonwoo says, adjusting his glasses. “What did you have in mind?”

“Are you really going to make me say it?”

Wonwoo looks at him, slightly bemused. “Are you seriously suggesting we do kissing practise?”

“You said you wouldn’t call me crazy!”

“I’m not!” he says, waving his hands a little. The sleeves of his jumper are too long, pulled up over his wrists and thumbs. “But I didn’t expect you to mean that!”

“We’ve got about ten days until filming, and I can’t even remember a time we’ve held hands. Don’t you think it’s a good idea to ease into it?”

Wonwoo plays with the ends of his sleeves for a few seconds, pressing his lips together. “It does make sense, I suppose.”

“So you’ll do it?”

Wonwoo rolls his shoulders awkwardly. “If you think it’s a good idea, we can try it out, at least. When do you want to practise, though? There’s not much privacy around here.”

“We’re not setting a schedule,” he says, mortified. “We’ll just try it whenever it’s the two of us.”

“That’s not very often.”

“We’re alone right now.”

“We are,” Wonwoo agrees. There’s a pause as Wonwoo looks at him, and Seungkwan realises the implications of what he just said.

“Well, yes,” he flounders, stepping forward.

Wonwoo takes a step forward too, reaches out to hold Seungkwan’s forearm. “Are you sure about this?”

“Certain,” he says, but his voice has suddenly become pitched, so he clears his throat. “It’s necessary. For our job.”

“Right,” Wonwoo says, cups one hand to the back of Seungkwan’s head. “Is this okay?”

“Fine,” he says, too quickly.

“You want to try putting your hands on me too?”

He thinks he might die. “Yep.” He reaches out to hold Wonwoo’s waist, trying to lean in naturally, not stiffen up under his touch. He looks over at the long bathroom mirror beside them, adjusts his stance. Wonwoo is a natural at this, looks all romantic-lead worthy without even trying. “Is this okay?”

“Perfect. You okay?”

“Peachy,” he says, glancing back at Wonwoo’s mouth. “Kiss me.”

Wonwoo complies, leaning in and pressing his lips against Seungkwan’s, and he promptly panics. He has the terrible urge to laugh into his mouth, feeling slightly hysterical at the situation, and pulls back, moving out of Wonwoo’s arms.

“Oh, God, sorry,” he says, and lets out something that might be a laugh, or perhaps a cry of despair, covering his burning face with his hands.

“You change your mind?”

“Nope!” He turns to face him again, laughing once before composing himself, Wonwoo watching him with a half-smile. “Sorry, my bad. Wasn’t ready. Let me try again.”

He puts his hands on Wonwoo’s shoulders, and Wonwoo holds him back easily, like they’ve been doing this together for years. Seungkwan presses a kiss to his mouth, and finds he can take it now, accepting his kiss back without wanting to flee the scene. Wonwoo’s lips are a little chapped, but he’s gentle, and the contact warms him up from the inside, a nervous fire stoked in his chest. It’s been a while since he’s kissed anyone, and Wonwoo is so easy with him that he relaxes into it after only a second or two, moving his mouth slightly to better accept the kiss. Wonwoo is reserved with him, but kind, planting steady little kisses to his mouth. Seungkwan tilts his head, trying to get a good angle, but he doesn’t know what might look aesthetically pleasing from the outside. Maybe he should film them next time.

“Am I interrupting something?” Minghao’s voice says from the doorway, and Seungkwan tears himself away as Wonwoo steps back, hands by his side in a second.

“No,” Wonwoo says, at the same time as he says,

“Hyung, you saw nothing,” with a finger pointed at Minghao.

“I just came to pee,” Minghao says. He’s staring at Wonwoo, an unreadable look on his face.

“No problem,” Seungkwan says, moving around him to the doorway. “You do that.”

“I will,” Minghao says, and Wonwoo follows him out of the bathroom, avoiding Minghao’s eyes.

“Good,” he says, shutting the bathroom door after them. That leaves him awkwardly stood next to Wonwoo in the hallway, the sounds from the living room hanging between them.

“Well,” he says, touching his mouth with the back of his hand. His lips are tingling a little. “Goodnight, Hyung.”

“Goodnight, Seungkwan,” Wonwoo says, failing to meet his eyes either. They part ways at the same time, Seungkwan headed to his bedroom, Wonwoo walking back to the living room.

If he doesn’t catch much sleep that night, it’s no one’s business but his.

-

Wonwoo is right, of course. They’re in a thirteen-member group, they share a dorm with half as many people and Seungkwan is in a bedroom with two others; it doesn’t give you much time alone with anyone. Two days after the bathroom incident is the next time they’re alone together. Seungkwan is up earlier than the others for once, and it stirs Wonwoo from his bed in the living room. He drops a passing peck to his mouth as he’s making his protein shake, and it surprises him at first, the hour far too early to properly process anything—he stares at Wonwoo, but he’s focused on making his tea, smiling to himself. When he turns back to his own breakfast, he feels far more awake, and the two of them make their drinks in comfortable silence.

Two days after that, he leaves the sweaty practise room during the break to get water from the hallway vending machine, and Wonwoo follows after him. The corridor is empty, so Seungkwan pulls him down and gives him a daring kiss right there. He thinks Wonwoo might’ve deliberately followed him out for that one, since he doesn’t actually get anything from the machine, but follows Seungkwan back into the studio with a dumb smile on his face.

Then, with five days until filming, Wonwoo takes him out to get lamb skewers, pays for their meal, and Seungkwan kisses him behind the building. His plan is actually working, it seems—it’s more comfortable every time they kiss, more natural, and works in favour for their chemistry. He’s never noticed how comfortable it is to be around Wonwoo, how much he looks out for Seungkwan and all his members. Wonwoo is the kind of person he probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to if they were in school together—he’s too quiet, too nerdy, takes some coaxing to come out of his shell. He’s grateful that being in this group has brought him close to all sorts of people, even to the point that he’s kissing one of them on the regular, now. It’s still innocent pecks to the mouth, but they’re sweet, exciting. Perfect for their concept, he thinks.

The whole group is flying out to Tahiti tomorrow to film for their summer package together, then Wonwoo and Seungkwan will be filming their part of the music video on the beaches there. The others are all excited to take a short break abroad, even if it is for schedule purposes, but he thinks he’ll only be able to enjoy it once the work part is done. Even as he’s getting into this whole relationship practise thing, it’s still nerve-wracking, knowing he has to do something new and exposing on camera.

The night before they fly out, he sneaks out of his bedroom early in the morning, careful to shut it behind him this time. All the other bedroom doors down the hallway are closed, too. Good. He pads through into the living room, beelines for Wonwoo’s bed by the window, and sits down next to his outline in the dark.

“Hyung,” he whispers. Wonwoo doesn’t move. He puts a hand on his shoulder and rolls him over. “Hyung!”

Wonwoo breathes in sharply, raising his head from the pillow and looking around blearily. Seungkwan feels bad for waking him up, but he’s working himself up over this again, and desperately needs the reassurance. Despite himself, he can’t help but smile at the sight of Wonwoo’s messed up hair, sticking up like ruffled chick feathers.

“What?” Wonwoo says. “What time s’it?”

“It’s not morning,” he says. They have another few hours before they need to be up. “I just came to see you. I’m nervous.”

Wonwoo rests back on his pillow, sighing softly. “About the shoot?”

“Yeah.”

“It’ll be fine,” he murmurs, eyes lingering shut as he blinks. “We’ve been practising well, haven’t we?”

“Yeah, you’re really great. I just don’t know if I’m good enough.”

“Trust me, you’re plenty good enough.”

“I hope so. I just want to do my part well.”

“Hey,” Wonwoo says, pushing himself up on one elbow. “Where did all your confidence go? You’re always the bravest person in our group. You always speak for us, and make all our funniest jokes, and you’ve done more independent schedules than anyone. Why are you so nervous about this?”

“I mean, it’s not like singing or dancing, or anything else I’ve been practising for years, is it?” He leans back on his own hands, clutching the sheets. “It’s not like hosting or talking or joking around, which are also things I’ve had plenty of practise at by now. It’s different, and new. And it’s hard to self-evaluate, or ask anyone else to evaluate you on something like this. I don’t know if I’m actually any good, you know? I just want to do well, and it’s frustrating.”

“I just told you, you’re already doing well,” Wonwoo says, sitting up properly and putting one hand on Seungkwan’s waist. “We still have a few days until filming, anyway. Don’t work yourself up over it. Like you said, let it be natural. Then it’ll look good no matter what, right?”

“Right,” he says, taking a breath in. “Natural.”

“Trust yourself,” he says. His voice is so low, scratchy with sleep.

“Okay,” he says. “Thank you.” It’s hard not to agree with him when he sounds like that.

Wonwoo takes him by the hand and leans in to kiss him, still holding onto Seungkwan’s waist. Seungkwan leans into it, not so surprised by the feeling anymore—he’s familiar with the way Wonwoo presses against him gently, holds him so carefully. He knows that his lips had started out chapped, but are doing better since Seungkwan gave him that lip balm—he knows that Wonwoo never pushes, but doesn’t complain when Seungkwan does.

For the first time, he opens his mouth against him, makes the kiss warmer, wetter. Wonwoo shakes slightly under his touch, but responds in kind, and Seungkwan tilts his head to the side, slotting their lips together better. He reaches up and around him to hold the base of Wonwoo’s neck, stroking along the soft hair there as they kiss. He pushes and pushes, in typical Seungkwan style, until they both need to come up for air, leaning back out to look at him. Wonwoo’s lips are pinker, shining under the dim light.

“See,” he says, rubbing his hand up Seungkwan’s side once before letting go. “You’re a natural.”

“It’s all you. I don’t think I’ve kissed anyone that well before,” he admits. Kissing is different depending on who you’re doing it with, but he never would’ve predicted it to feel so good with Wonwoo. He’s accommodating, but never passive—it makes Seungkwan feel like he’s really wanted there, to kiss and be kissed. Like he was chosen; like he’s trusted with this.

“Well, maybe we make a good team,” Wonwoo compromises.

“I’ll take that,” he says with a smile. “Sorry for waking you up. I’ll leave you to sleep again, now.”

“It’s fine. I’ll probably sleep on the flight later, anyway.”

“Can we bag seats next to each other? I think I’m going to need to sleep, too.”

“Sure. I’ll mention it to manager-hyung.”

“Thanks.” He squeezes Wonwoo’s hand in his before letting go, standing up from the bed. “Goodnight, Hyung.”

“Goodnight, Seungkwan.”

He leaves for his bedroom, carefully closing the door behind him, happy to see neither Chan nor Jun have woken up. Back in his bed, he’s left smiling to himself, feeling something warm in the pit of his belly. It’s nice, kissing Wonwoo. He wouldn’t mind doing it more—it’s almost a shame that there are only a few more days left until the shoot. Oh well. He’ll make the most of them.

-

The flight is only half as long as the haul to California, but he does catch some sleep on the way over, so he steps off the plane groggy and swollen and so very ready for a short break abroad.

Tahiti is beautiful. Humid, hot, and unbearably bright, but even just the car journey from the airport to the hotel is scenic, with green mountains on the horizon encircled by the domestic landscape, homely little streets and old-fashioned tourist stops. The hotel is a small, old building, clearly family-owned, but very well kept. They’ve rented the entire place out to accommodate for the group, their staff, and the whole production team.

Wonwoo is at his side the whole way, from the flight to the car to the hotel lobby, where their manager is efficiently dividing them into rooms by handing out their room keys. “You can swap around if you really want to, but it would be good if Seungkwan and Wonwoo could stay in the same room, since you guys will be needed for filming at the same time.”

“That’s fine,” he says, turning to get confirmation from Wonwoo, only to find that he’s finally disappeared. Not that he’s gone far—he’s squatting down in the corner of the lobby, reaching out to stroke a tabby cat with gentle rhythm.

“The summer package director wants to start shooting at sunset, so wash up and regroup here in an hour,” their manager-hyung continues, eyes finding Wonwoo. “Oh, right, and they have residential cats here. Try not to get cat hair on your shooting outfits.”

“Oh, kitties!” Seungcheol says, going to Wonwoo’s side to get his share of petting.

“I’ll take your bag through, then?” he calls, but Wonwoo doesn’t even hear him, too busy coaxing the kittens to come and join their mother for pets.

He rolls his eyes with a smile, hoisting his bag higher on his arm so that he can grab Wonwoo’s suitcase, room key in the other hand. With only a little bit of struggling and a lot of Soonyoung laughing at him, he makes it into the bedroom with all the bags, and leaves the door propped open for Wonwoo.

When he comes through twenty minutes later, he’s accompanied by no less than three kittens, following at his heels and looking up at him expectantly. Wonwoo is too nice to shut the door on them, so the kittens follow after him as he goes to sit on his bed, pawing at his shoelaces and mewing.

“Got a fanbase, have you?” he says, glancing over his phone from his own bed. God, of course it’s typical for Wonwoo to have a besotted fanbase wherever he goes. Even on this little island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

“Apparently,” he says, bending down to scratch behind the ears of the closest kitten. “I don’t know how to tell them to go back.”

“I think you’re their new father. Congratulations.”

Wonwoo laughs. “You should at least take responsibility, shouldn’t you?”

“They’re not my children! It’s not my fault you had an affair!”

“I would never do that to you, honey,” Wonwoo says, giving in and kneeling on the floor again to play with the kittens properly.

“I’ll see you in court, then,” he drawls, rolling over. He nearly goes too far, the edge of the bed closer than expected, and scrambles for purchase so as not to fall off. Wonwoo laughs at him from the other side of the room.

They’re called for the group photoshoot not much later, and it goes well, but doesn’t last long. They make the most of the sunset, and then it’s too dark to shoot much of anything, so they’re all left to their own devices. Half of them split off for a night walk around the mountain, the other half deciding to go for a drink in town. Seungkwan personally thinks the other team are idiots for missing out on this—the soft grass against his feet, the sight of the bright moon over a dark sea. The path is clear under its light, and they wind through trees together, walking alongside quiet buildings until they reach the tranquil beach. Everything feels still and quiet under the emerging blanket of stars.

“This place is so beautiful,” Seokmin says, crouching down to run warm sand through his fingers. “It’s like paradise.”

“We’re lucky to be here,” Jeonghan agrees, walking slightly ahead with Joshua. “Does anyone want to go in the sea?”

“Let’s do it tomorrow, Hyung,” he says. “It’ll be too cold now.”

“It’s not that cold, actually,” Soonyoung calls, and Seungkwan turns to see him already shin-deep in the water, wading along the shallow tide. “Woah, it feels so nice. Come and try!”

Jeonghan follows after him without hesitation, and Joshua only stops to roll up his trouser cuffs.

“Oh, you’re right,” Jeonghan says, kicking a bit of water up. “It’s not bad.” There aren’t many other people around; just him and his family, the moon, and the sounds of the sea.

He steps forward and tries the water with his hand. They’re right—it’s cool, not cold, not much different to the temperature still clinging to the air. “That’s crazy. I thought it would be freezing, the sun went down ages ago!”

“I always miss the beach,” Joshua says, splashing a bit of water at Seokmin with a quick grin. Seokmin laughs, splashes him right back, and Joshua is quick to call a truce.

Seungkwan steps back to take a picture of the two of them. “Come on, let’s take a picture with the moon and show the others what they’re missing out on.”

He holds his phone out, and the others wade closer together behind him. He takes a few selfies, and then they carry on down the beach, paddling along the gentle shore of a shy sea.

When he finds a shot he likes, he sends it to their group chat, captioned, _debuting as unit with our new member, the moon. none of you are invited xxx_

Jihoon replies quickly with ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ, and Vernon also sends a string of laughing emojis. Wonwoo sends, _hey, isn’t that just Moon Junhi_?

It’s a really dumb joke, but he can’t help but smile down at his phone. ㅋㅋㅋ _I suppose, he looks a bit different though_

 _I’ll cheer for you guys anyway,_ Wonwoo replies.

Joshua’s voice calls back from ahead of him. “Busy over there, Seungkwan?”

He looks up, and realises he’s fallen behind the others. Joshua and Jeonghan are looking back at him with matching mischievous grins.

Seungkwan pockets his phone, kicking water in their general direction, which gets them both to turn away again. “Busy setting our debut date with Moon Junhwi, if you don’t mind.”

“Moon Junhwi and the Beach Boys,” Seokmin says from the front of the line. “What will our debut song be called?”

“It’s going to be called Lament of a Lover, because Seungkwan won’t be able to make out with Wonwoo in the music video,” Jeonghan says, and Seungkwan dips his cupped hands into the water, and goes running for Jeonghan. Jeonghan and Joshua scatter, laughing, and Seungkwan’s water doesn’t reach either of them. Not one to be deterred, he stays on course for Jeonghan, and kicks hard enough to send sea water flying.

He’s a lot wetter by the time they reach the hotel, but he steps into the shower with a smile on his face. Maybe he did need this break.

-

In the middle of the night, he’s shocked awake by an impact, a loud noise—it makes him scramble up, look around, and promptly hit his head on the side of his bed.

“Ow!” he cries, holding the back of his head in both hands.

“Seungkwan?” Wonwoo’s voice asks from the other side of the room, low and drowsy.

“Yep, fine,” he says, dragging himself up onto the bed again. “Think I fell off the bed.”

“Oh,” Wonwoo says, dropping his head onto his pillow again. “You okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” he says, laying back down. His covers are all twisted, and he kicks at them to make them flat again. “Go back to sleep.”

“You did that earlier,” Wonwoo remarks, words slow with sleep. “Is your bed okay?”

Seungkwan doesn’t reply for a moment. He’s right, it’s not like him to fall like that, new bed or not. He usually has very good spatial awareness, unlike some other people he could name. Yet even as he lies here, he can feel himself tilting slightly—if he leans even slightly into it, his whole body goes to roll over the edge again. He lets it happen, landing on his knees this time, and looks at his bed critically.

“Ah,” he says, hoisting up one of the bed legs. It’s crooked, broken at the bottom and balanced at an angle. The whole bed is sloping slightly one way. “You’re right, it’s the bed. Mystery solved.”

“Can you prop something under it?”

He grabs the tourist book from the bedside table and sticks it under the bed leg, but the leg slips aside again, and the whole bed wobbles dangerously.

“Apparently not.” He grabs the bible provided from the bedside drawer, thicker and sturdier, sending a quick apology for the blasphemy. Still, it’s no good—it just skews the book awkwardly, the angle of the leg stubbornly sloped.

“You could go and talk to reception about it.”

“I don’t want to make them sort it all out now,” he says, rubbing his eyes. “It’s the middle of the night. I’ll just drag the mattress off and sleep on the floor tonight.”

“There’s no space on the floor for that,” Wonwoo says, rolling over in his own bed. “Just come here.”

“Where?”

“My bed. There’s space for us both. Let’s just go back to sleep.”

He considers it for a moment, but there’s no reason not to. He’s shared a bed with everyone in the group before, and Wonwoo is one of the best at keeping to his own side. It certainly beats sleeping on the floor. So he stands, makes his way around his broken bed, and slips into the empty side of Wonwoo’s. Wonwoo takes the thin cover and throws it over him, and Seungkwan sighs into the pillows.

“Thanks,” he says.

“No problem. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Wonwoo.”

He falls back to sleep easily, lulled by Wonwoo’s even breathing.

-

He wakes up early, the sun shining through half-closed blinds, forehead pressed against something solid. He blinks a few times, pouts at the sight of the sun, and his lips meet skin. Drawing back, he realises he had his face pressed against the muscle of Wonwoo’s arm, bare underneath his soft t-shirt. Wonwoo sleeps on beside him, and Seungkwan finds himself reaching out, brushing soft hair away from his eyes. He wishes he could say his own hair is still that soft. It’s unfair, the way he looks so good, even first thing in the morning. Seungkwan knows for a fact his hair is a bird’s nest, his face as swollen as Soonyoung’s stomach after samgyeopsal.

He lies there for a while, listening to Wonwoo breathing. He’s one of the quieter sleepers of the group, thankfully, very different to rooming with Seokmin’s sleep talking or Seungcheol’s snoring. Jihoon has even gone sleepwalking a few times. Seungkwan remembers with clarity the time he’d woken up in the middle of the night to see him standing at the end of his bed, staring at him, still dead asleep. Terrifying.

In comparison, Wonwoo is a dream roommate. He’s always like that, though; quiet, always giving things to others before himself, determined not to take up too much space. He’ll make space for others by making himself smaller. And Seungkwan can’t help but check their ratings, sometimes, so he knows that Wonwoo is a popular member of their group—worldwide, in every country, he’s a fan favourite across the board. It’s amazing, he thinks, how Wonwoo is always so yielding, because he must know how popular and liked he is, how no one would complain if he were to insert himself more. But Wonwoo has never once acted like he’s better than anyone else. There has never been a moment where he’d made Seungkwan feel inferior. He’s too good for that. He hopes he knows that.

Eventually, the warm room and the steady rhythm of Wonwoo’s chest eases him back to sleep. When he wakes again, the room is uncomfortably hot, and Wonwoo is gone. He can hear the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.

There’s a knock at the door. “We’re going for breakfast in five!” Chan shouts from outside.

He groans. “No one thought to wake me up earlier?”

He and Wonwoo end up running to join the group a little late, Wonwoo scarfing down a big breakfast before their day of shooting for the summer package begins. The group filming is the best part, playing games and talking together and making some crafts for each other inside an airy, white room. It takes up much of the day before dinner, and after that, their director of photography takes the performance unit for their individual shoots.

Given a little free time, the rest of them split up, and Seungkwan decides to take Wonwoo along the beach they walked down yesterday. He figures they should scout out their potential filming location together.

“It’s really beautiful here,” Wonwoo says, and Seungkwan hums in assent.

“It is, isn’t it? We’re so lucky. I’m sure I never would’ve come here if I wasn’t part of this group.”

“Me neither.”

“But here we are. The sunset on one side, the mountains on the other.” He looks out to sea, at the orange and yellow streaks running together over the horizon. “Things aren’t so bad, are they? Even if we are about to be teased by the others forever. At least we get to film in a place like this.”

Wonwoo doesn’t speak for a moment. “I never found this to be a chore, you know. This role. I don’t mind kissing you.”

If that leaves him floundering, it’s only for a second. “Yeah. Of course. You’re a good kisser, and it’s not as awkward as I thought once we got used to it. It’s not a chore for me either. But it’s still embarrassing when the others make jokes about it every time I try and talk to them, or when I think about all the people who will ask us about it in interviews. And it’s embarrassing for you to be put with me, I’m sure.”

Wonwoo frowns at him. “What are you talking about? I told you, I’m glad that it’s you.”

“Alright then, it’s embarrassing for me to be put with you,” he says, sighing. “Isn’t it? Because you’re you, and you look like that, and you find this sort of thing easy. But I’m me, and this sort of thing isn’t my role in the group—I can’t believe our CEO-nim stuck with me for this, actually, when Mingyu was ready and willing—”

“Hang on—” Wonwoo says, taking his hand and pulling him to a stop. “What are you saying?”

He can feel his cheeks flushing red, and he looks at Wonwoo quickly before glancing away. “Look, it’s not like I hate myself or anything like that. I know I’ve improved a lot in looks recently. But I’m still a realist. I know I don’t look like anything compared to some members of our group. And that’s fine, I’m good at different things that others don’t have. But you’d think that, for a role like this, they would’ve wanted someone other than me.”

Wonwoo is still frowning at him. Seungkwan can’t really stand receiving a look like that, so he pulls him along again, looking down at the sand he’s kicking up and keeping Wonwoo’s hand in his own.

Wonwoo speaks again, voice low and steady. “You’re perfect for this role. It suits you far better than superheroes would’ve, right? This is much more your speed. You’re doing great at this, I promise, and you’re not—we’re not different, or competing, you know. We’re a team. A newly married couple, in fact.”

That gets a laugh out of him. “Sure, I guess so. I can only hope the director gives me my fair share of screen time.”

“I’ll make sure he does,” Wonwoo promises, though there’s no way he could influence something like that. “And I’ll ask the others to stop joking about it, if it’s making things hard for you.”

“Don’t bother,” he says, waving his free hand. “That would probably make them worse. They’ll get bored of it when something else happens, or I’ll just get used to it. Thanks anyway, though.”

They’re quiet for another minute, walking along the beach together. When Wonwoo speaks up again, his voice is smaller.

“For the record, Seungkwan, I think you’re very handsome. And you always have been. Even since we were kids, I always thought you were really cute.”

Seungkwan finally looks up at him, and Wonwoo has this slightly pained expression on his face, like he’s embarrassed to be saying something so honest. It makes him smile, and pull Wonwoo over to the jut of rocks biting into the beach; there’s no one around, and Wonwoo is being extremely cute, so he pushes him against the smooth plane of rock and kisses him on the lips. Wonwoo leans into him, body wiry under Seungkwan’s touch, but kiss firm at Seungkwan’s mouth.

“Thank you,” he says when they part.

Wonwoo smiles at him before blushing down at the sand. “Anytime,” he says, and takes Seungkwan’s hand again, pulling him the rest of the way along the beach.

-

They don’t get back until late. When they get in, Seungkwan drops onto his bed, too tired to think. When something cracks loudly at the broken end, he quickly stands back up again, backing away and glaring at the broken leg.

“Ah, right, we still need to go to reception about that,” Wonwoo says, pausing at the door.

“There was no one at the desk when we went past,” he says, ducking down to look at the bed warily. The leg is still attached, which is good. Hopefully they won’t charge him extra for this. “Is it okay if we share again tonight? I’ll set myself a reminder to go to the desk first thing tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Wonwoo says, shutting the hotel door behind him and starting the search for his night clothes.

He takes the time to shower, and then the two of them brush their teeth together, and he watches their reflection in the mirror and thinks about the fact that their shoot is only one day away now. How quickly time flies when you’re kissing your bandmate in the name of work every other day. Wonwoo’s got a smear of toothpaste on the collar of his t-shirt, but he spits into the sink without noticing it, and goes back through to the bedroom.

“You know, this is more practical anyway,” he says, putting his washbag away and turning the bathroom light off.

“What is?”

“Sharing a bed.”

“Practical for what?”

“Practising, of course.”

Wonwoo glances at him. “I don’t think ‘sleeping together’ was on the storyboard.”

He scoffs, coming to kneel on the bed next to Wonwoo, who’s sitting up against the headboard. He looks up from his phone as Seungkwan crawls over the covers, resting on his thighs in front of him.

“That’s not what I meant. I just meant our usual practise.” He leans forwards, bracing one hand on the pillow so that he can lean in to kiss Wonwoo. Wonwoo lowers his phone into his lap and kisses back obediently, quick and sweet. “Wait,” he says, pulling away and looking around the room for his own phone. “I think we should record it.”

Wonwoo lets out a strange noise then, like he’s stammering over a few different words. “What?”

“So that we know what we look like, you know. I’m not about to ask one of those idiots we call friends to monitor us, so we should try and monitor ourselves instead.” He pulls away the covers on his bed, and his phone drops out of the sheets.

“Hmm,” Wonwoo agrees.

“I’ll delete it when we’re done, don’t worry. It’s not going to be sent anywhere.” He sets his phone to record and crawls over Wonwoo to prop it up on the bedside table, precariously balanced between his book and the lamp. He draws back to find Wonwoo watching him raptly, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

“Do you want to take these off?” he asks, lifting the sides of the frames gently.

“Why? Then I can’t see you,” Wonwoo says, pushing them back into place again.

“You’ll probably be wearing contacts for the filming.”

“But I’d rather be able to see you right now.”

He pauses, knees settling beside Wonwoo’s lap. Wonwoo looks back at him, mouth pressing into the reserved smile he has when he’s unsure.

“Okay,” is all he can say, and he takes Wonwoo’s face in both hands, and leans in to kiss him.

Wonwoo doesn’t stay shy for long, supporting Seungkwan with a hand to his lower back as he leans forward. He surges in close into Wonwoo, opening his mouth to coax Wonwoo into doing the same, until he has Wonwoo’s bottom lip between his own. His touch feels alive at Seungkwan’s back, making his skin buzz, complementing the warmth shared at their lips, the pleasant pull of skin. It’s nice—really good, as it always is with Wonwoo—but Seungkwan wants to push a little more, try a little harder. He always does; it’s the only way he knows how to do things. So he gently sinks his teeth into Wonwoo’s pretty lower lip, and he can feel the way he twitches in response, catching the surprised noise he makes into Seungkwan’s mouth. They both lean out at the same time, and his teeth drag ever so slightly against the sensitive skin of Wonwoo’s lip.

“Sorry,” he says immediately, feeling a wave of something like regret come over him. “That was too much.”

“It’s fine,” Wonwoo says, looking just to the left of Seungkwan’s face.

“Sorry,” he says again, but Wonwoo just shakes his head.

“You really have nothing to worry about. You’re overqualified for this role, if anything.”

Seungkwan gives him a laugh, shuffling backwards to sit on his butt. “Yeah. I think we’re doing fine.”

Wonwoo pulls the covers further up over himself. “Are you going to look at it?”

“Hm?”

“The video.”

“Oh, yes!” He leans over Wonwoo again to reach for his phone, and then comes back to lay on his side of the bed.

Wonwoo also lies down, turning over with his back to Seungkwan. “Can I turn the light off?”

“Yeah, sure.” The video is there, sitting in his camera roll, nearly two minutes long.

Wonwoo reaches over for the light switch by the bed, and the room goes dark. He looks at the small video thumbnail, the outline of the two of them kissing, him practically sitting on Wonwoo’s lap. He thinks about the noise Wonwoo had made into his mouth when he’d bitten down. About how when he’d pulled away, Wonwoo’s mouth had looked so pretty and pink, and how he’d wanted to go back and kiss him again.

He locks his phone without watching the video. He’s suddenly very aware of Wonwoo lying beside him, still and quiet.

What are they doing here? He has a newly crushing realisation that this might permanently change things between them, after the shoot. There are some things that alter how you see a person forever, and having them moan into your mouth is one of them. But he doesn’t want things to change between him and Wonwoo. He likes him far too much for that. It’s annoying—he wishes their whole deal didn’t have to come to an end in two days, because it’s been comforting to know that he can come to Wonwoo for a little affection, some gentle touches. Stress relieving, even, once he’d gotten over the whole prospect of it.

Then again, if this whole thing is making Wonwoo uncomfortable—no matter what he says, he can tell Wonwoo is becoming more careful around him—then maybe it’s not such a bad thing that this will come to an end soon. Hopefully they can go back to being normal friends again, just like they were before, without the stupid kissing benefits. Maybe he’ll call up Moonbin again.

Whatever. Only one more day until the shoot, then he won’t have to worry about any of this anymore.

-

He’s up early again the next day, rousing with the sun, too close to Wonwoo’s body heat in the hot room. He decides to make the most out of it, to get up and fetch them both some breakfast as an apology of sorts to Wonwoo. Sorry for kissing you too much.

Their manager-hyung catches him in the hallway, talking to a sleepy Seokmin at his door. “Ah, Seungkwan, the vocal unit shoot is starting soon. You guys are being driven out to the shoot location in half an hour, so be ready for then, okay?”

“Okay. I’m just going to get breakfast, then I’ll be ready. You want some, Hyung?”

“Please, I’m starving,” Seokmin says.

From further in the room, Jeonghan shouts, “Me too!”

“If Jihoon and Shua start moaning at me for not bringing them food, that’s on you!” he calls back into the room. “I can’t carry any more orders on my own!”

“We’ll finish it before we see them,” Seokmin promises. “Love you!”

He takes the short walk to an American diner, picks up three takeaway breakfasts and a fruit bowl with only minimal language barrier issues, and walks back to the hotel feeling pretty smug about it. He drops two off with Seokmin, then walks down the corridor to his room, pausing outside to find the key in his pockets.

When he finds it, the sounds from inside the room make him pause. He can clearly hear Minghao’s voice from inside, talking to Wonwoo—maybe he’d left the door unlocked earlier?

“I was happy for you, you know. I thought you’d finally confessed. I thought you were actually together.”

He grips his key tight, frozen by the serious tone of his voice. He really shouldn’t stand out here and listen in on their private conversation, but it sounds like something might be wrong.

“It doesn’t matter,” Wonwoo says, though he barely catches it through the door, his voice low with sleep. “You don’t need to worry.”

“You need to stop this. It’s not fair on either of you.”

“It’s too late for that now. We’ll be done with it after tomorrow. I told you, it’s fine.”

Things are quiet for a few seconds. Then Minghao says,

“I hope you’ve not hurt yourself too much with this, Wonwoo.”

There’s the sound of someone approaching the corridor off to his right, and it compels him to press down on the door handle, not wanting to be caught spying. The door is unlocked, so he enters the room in a flourish, trying to look like he wasn’t just eavesdropping. Wonwoo’s head snaps up, and Minghao turns to eye him up too, so Seungkwan lifts up the plastic bag of takeout for viewing.

“I got breakfast! Not for you, sorry, Minghao-hyung. I expect your unit will be going out for food soon, though.”

“Oh, thanks, Kwan-ah,” Wonwoo says, reaching around for his glasses on the bedside table.

“Apparently vocal unit is driving out to shoot in like—ah, ten minutes, so I have to eat fast.” He hands Wonwoo his food and sits on the end of the bed, unpacking his bowl of fruit.

Minghao hovers silently, watching him.

“Are you okay, Hyung?” he asks.

“Fine,” Minghao says. He turns and leaves without another word, shutting the door quietly behind him.

“Everything okay with you two?” he says, looking over at Wonwoo.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, and shoves some bacon in his mouth.

He turns back to the meal he now has nine minutes to finish. They eat in silence, leaving Seungkwan time to wind back the tape in his head, trying to figure out what the hell he’d heard from behind the door.

Between a lot of cryptic words, the main thing he’d picked up was that Minghao thought that Wonwoo had confessed to someone. He entertains the possibility, just for now, that it could be him, because Wonwoo had also said that _we’ll be done with it after tomorrow_. Surely that could only mean their agreement. It would make sense—when Minghao had caught them kissing in the bathroom, perhaps he’d thought that they were together, not just practising. He’d thought that Wonwoo had confessed to Seungkwan.

A loud knock at the door startles him from his thoughts, and he sucks down his grape. “I’ll be there in a minute!” he yells, abandoning the rest of the bowl to grab his bag and phone.

“Have a good shoot,” Wonwoo says, not looking up from his food.

He looks over at Wonwoo, and shakes himself. If Wonwoo had feelings for him, surely he wouldn’t have agreed to all of this. It would be madness. It’s more likely he has feelings for someone else, maybe had been planning to confess to them, but his agreement with Seungkwan had gotten in the way of that.

“Thanks, Hyung,” he smiles, making his way out of the room.

That conversation wasn’t for him to hear. He’ll pretend it never happened. Whoever Wonwoo likes, he’s happy for him. If it’s someone in the group, that might be hard to work through, but definitely possible. He hopes his confession goes well.

He climbs into the van, Jihoon playfully berating him for tardiness, and shuts the car door hard. The fruit feels uncomfortably dense in his stomach.

-

The photoshoot is slow, and hot, and everything takes twice as long after Seokmin spills water down his designer shirt, but he can’t be too mad about it. He’s still not over the quiet joy of being in a place like this, surrounded by the ocean on all sides, working under cheerful sunshine. They meet the hip hop unit for lunch, at a local grill place by the shore—the performance unit are, apparently, taking a guided tour around the island.

“I really wanted to join them,” Seungcheol whines around a mouthful of steak. “But the production team said that they needed us for the afternoon shoot. We should’ve played rock-paper-scissors for the afternoon shoot yesterday, rather than letting Soonyoung get away with grabbing it.”

“Can you blame him, though?” Wonwoo says. “Performance unit have missed out on most of the meals we’ve had together for the past few weeks because of all their extra practise. If anyone deserves a day off, it’s them.”

Like a predator honing in on prey, Seungkwan perks up his ears, brain running through a thousand calculations. Wonwoo is a perceptive person, and likes to keep an eye on the people around him, so this could be an ordinary comment on how the performance unit have been working hard on their gruelling unit choreography. Or, Wonwoo could be totally head-over-heels in love with Soonyoung, monitoring him and doing what he can to assure no one bothers him for getting the day off, because he deserves his rest. Soonyoung could be Wonwoo’s crush. He weighs the thought up carefully.

“Don’t talk such sense,” Mingyu says. “You’re too generous. The rest of us still get the day off tomorrow when you and Seungkwan are filming, so today’s free day should’ve been fair game for us all. For our units more, actually, since you two are in them, and you don’t have any days off while we’re here.”

“I don’t mind not having a day off,” he says. “I feel lucky enough just to be here.”

“Same,” Wonwoo agrees. “But like I said, performance unit haven’t had even an afternoon off in ages. I think it’s only fair to let them have this one.”

Maybe he’s jumping to conclusions. Wonwoo is completely right, and they’re talking about the whole performance unit here, not just Soonyoung. He needs to stop looking too deeply into something that isn’t even his business. He tells himself, for the hundredth time in the past hour, to forget the conversation he’d overheard.

“We all know your filming might as well be a day off, anyway,” Joshua says. “All you’re doing is walking along the beach, going on a date, and lying around together.”

“Lying around? We haven’t had the camera crew in our bedroom yet,” he says, perplexed. Are they filming extra contents here?

Joshua’s eyes glint as he looks back at him. “Oh, no. I meant for your concept. Didn’t you look at the updated storyboards yet?”

His fork pauses halfway to his mouth. “They were updated?”

“Oh, yes,” Jeonghan says, pulling his phone out. “You’ve got a date before the beach walk, and then you have to lie together and cuddle up…”

“It’s only lying on the beach. Don’t make it sound so scandalous,” Wonwoo says.

Jeonghan passes over his phone, and Seungkwan sits back as he flicks through the new information. They’re right—their concept now has a vague storyline that includes sleeping on the beach together. Chan is also included in the background of that scene, seemingly… watching over them in the night? Great. Just great.

“Why did you even volunteer for this role? Any of you? I thought that no one would respond and they’d be forced to scrap it, to be honest. I was shocked when half the group stepped forward,” Jeonghan says, speaking through a laugh.

“It’s kind of a fun concept, isn’t it?” Mingyu says. “I would’ve liked to try it out, but I think the superhero concept will be fun, too.”

“You’re weird,” Jihoon informs him, and Mingyu beams in agreement.

“I like a challenge,” Seungkwan sighs. “But they are pushing it a bit. I hope the director isn’t weird about all this.”

“Okay, but I was mostly surprised that Wonwoo-hyung wanted to do it,” Vernon says, pointing at him with his fork. “I didn’t think you were the type.”

Wonwoo shrugs. “I don’t mind it. I’m happy to go wherever I fit best.”

“Which is with Seungkwan, apparently,” Seokmin says, before he and Jeonghan dissolve into giggles together in the corner of the booth.

“Actually, Hyung said that he thought….” Seungkwan trails off, looking right at Wonwoo. He remembers now. Wonwoo had said that he thought Soonyoung would be the only other person to volunteer. He’d volunteered thinking that he’d be partnered with Soonyoung—you wouldn’t volunteer to kiss a person you _didn’t_ like. “…that I wouldn’t volunteer,” he finishes.

“Yeah, I was surprised about that. But I think we’ll be alright.” Wonwoo doesn’t look up from his drink.

Holy shit. He’s cracked it. Wonwoo has a crush on Soonyoung, had volunteered for this role to get close to him—and was planning to confess? And now he’s itching to get done with filming, and this whole kissing thing with Seungkwan, so that he can be free to approach Soonyoung properly. It makes perfect sense.

“Well, good luck to you both,” Jeonghan says. “I wouldn’t want it to be me. No offence to either of you.”

“None taken,” Wonwoo says, at the same time as Seungkwan says,

“I’ll have you know I’m a perfectly good kisser, and it would be a delight to play my husband.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Jeonghan replies, grinning at him from across the table.

-

The bed situation goes unmentioned that night. Truthfully, he thinks of it when he passes by reception, and hesitates for half a second. The thing is, he’s kind of worried about telling them about the broken bed, that they might be angry or charge him a fee. He’s also aware that it’s not a break they can fix quickly; they’re more likely to move him to a spare bed in another room than fix the bed for him right away, and he doesn’t want to leave Wonwoo behind. With it being the last night before their shoot, it’s better they stay close together, he tells himself. Wonwoo doesn’t question it as they get ready for bed, doesn’t say anything when Seungkwan climbs in beside him for the third night in a row. An unspoken agreement, maybe. Or he’s just too nice.

Once they’re in bed together, he pulls his phone out and loads up the video he’d taken last night, deliberately keeping the volume down low.

“Oh, you’re watching that,” Wonwoo says from over his shoulder, and Seungkwan stays still as they watch the two of them on the screen. The angle of the video is kind of low, makes it looks like Seungkwan is sitting on Wonwoo’s lap, face in his hands as he kisses him. The whole thing is awfully hot, he thinks, and then banishes that thought. Objectively, aesthetically, they fit well together. Visually, they’re better matched than he thought.

“We look good together,” he murmurs, and then clears his throat. “You know, I think we’re ready for tomorrow. Jeonghan will have to eat his words.”

Wonwoo laughs, a puff of breath against the skin of his neck. “I think you’re right. This was a good idea, you know. It would’ve been terrible if we’d kissed for the first time during filming.”

“Right, we’ve definitely improved since then.” The video finishes, and he puts his phone down. “Good job, husband.”

He looks up, and Wonwoo’s face is right there, looking down at him. “You too,” he says, looking down at Seungkwan’s mouth. “One last go for good luck?”

For half a second, he’s surprised. He’d presumed that Wonwoo would take this opportunity to roll over and go to sleep, with it being clear that they don’t have to kiss anymore. They’re ready for tomorrow, and Wonwoo can put more of his energy into pursuing Soonyoung, now. God knows he’ll need it.

Then again, Wonwoo has always been a perfectionist, and it’s not like he’s ever shown resentment about having to kiss Seungkwan. One last practise doesn’t hurt either of them.

“Okay,” he smiles, and Wonwoo leans down to press a long kiss to his mouth.

It’s not the push and pull of yesterday, the borderline dirty kiss he’d tried to pull off, nor is it the innocent pecks they’d started off with. Wonwoo cups his face with one hand, half-hovering over Seungkwan in the bed, and Seungkwan moves up slightly to kiss back. The kiss sends tingles down his spine, and he grips Wonwoo’s arms with his hands, pulls him back in as Wonwoo is about to pull him away. He hopes Wonwoo can feel that too—the warmth, the energy they pass between each other, the pleasant butterflies in the pit of his belly. Kissing is great. Kissing Wonwoo is amazing.

Eventually, Wonwoo pulls back, leaving a quick kiss on Seungkwan’s cheek as he does.

“Ah, I’m glad you’re my husband, Wonwoo,” he says. “I trust you the most.”

Wonwoo smiles down at him, eyes sparkling. Maybe he had felt it, too. “Thanks. Same to you.”

“Are you sure? I don’t know if I’m completely trustworthy.”

“I think you are. Don’t tell the others, but I like you the most of all my dongsaengs.”

Maybe he was the second choice for kissing, then, after Soonyoung. That’s nice. “Good. As you should. We’re a team.”

“They say you need communication and compromise to make a marriage successful, you know. I think the two of us are going to be just fine.”

“Right,” he says, letting his hand rest on Wonwoo’s shoulder as they lay down parallel to each other. “That’s why you’re the only one made of husband material in this group. No one else is half as reliable.”

Wonwoo is smiling down at the sheets, and Seungkwan carefully takes his glasses from his nose before he can forget to take them off. “I’m glad you think so.”

“I do think so,” he says. “Your future partner is very lucky.”

Wonwoo looks up at him. Opens his mouth, shuts it again. Pauses for a second, his eyes roaming Seungkwan’s face, and then, finally, hums in agreement. Rolls over to reach for the light switch, and the room goes dark.

“Goodnight, Hyung.”

“Goodnight, Seungkwan,” Wonwoo’s voice says, somewhere to his left. Seungkwan stretches out, splaying his arm over the bedsheets, and his fingertips bump into skin—Wonwoo’s hand, it feels like. He traces his fingers lightly over the skin of his palm, and then his hand goes lax, cradled there. Wonwoo doesn’t pull away. Seungkwan falls asleep not long after that.

-

They’re scheduled to wake up criminally early for the sunrise shoot, which leaves Seungkwan stumbling around their room at the crack of dawn to make himself presentable for the production team. Their manager comes knocking earlier than he’d expected, and he nearly falls over his own feet in going for the door.

“Sorry, Wonwoo is just in the shower—”

“It’s okay, you’re not needed,” the manager-hyung says, rubbing his face.

“What?” he stares, trying to process that statement through his sleepy haze. Not needed for their own shoot?

“There’s a problem with some of the equipment. The main camera was damaged in the flight over. They can fix it, but it will take a few hours. You’ll start the shoot later, and do the sunrise shots tomorrow morning instead.”

He blinks a few times. “Oh.”

“Go back to bed, Seungkwan. We’ll call you later.”

“Thanks, Hyung.”

He shuts the door again and peeks into the bathroom—Wonwoo has stepped out of the shower in nothing but a towel, looking around for his clothes.

“It’s okay,” he says, rubbing his eyes. “Shoot is delayed. I’m going back to sleep.”

He can hear Wonwoo laughing at him as he leaves the bathroom, flopping back down onto Wonwoo’s bed. He sinks into the covers, and slips back into sleep.

When he comes to again, Wonwoo is sitting on the bed next to him, reading his book. Seungkwan rolls over, grimacing at the sight of the sunlight streaming through the window.

“What time is it?” he rasps, pushing himself up on both hands.

“Morning, sleeping beauty. It’s nearly 11.”

He groans. “Why didn’t you wake me up before now?”

“You seemed like you needed the sleep. Besides, we’ll probably be working late tonight to make up for lost time. Better to sleep now.”

“Did they fix the equipment?”

“Getting there. We should be on to shoot in an hour or so.”

“That’s good. If we’re efficient, we can still get it all shot in time.”

“Good thing we practised, then.” Wonwoo neatly closes a bookmark into his book and sets it aside. “Do you want to go out for food?”

“You haven’t eaten yet?”

“Thought I should wait for you. You treated me yesterday, so how about I take you somewhere today?”

“I really shouldn’t eat before filming. It’s a shame I can’t make my protein shakes here.”

“You need to eat. How about that smoothie bar we passed before? I bet that has something that would suit you.”

He mulls it over. He wants Wonwoo to eat, but he won’t eat if Seungkwan doesn’t go. Seungkwan can’t eat before a filming, especially not a music video… but maybe Wonwoo would let him get off with a smoothie. Fruit drinks are okay. Good for energy, too. “Okay. Where’s everyone else?”

“Scattered to do their free day plans. I think Jihoon is sleeping. Soonyoung is doing the bungee jumping experience. You know, things like that.”

“Soonyoung is bungee jumping?” he snorts, sitting up properly. “Now that’s something I’d like to see.”

They leave the hotel and wander the streets for a little bit, trying to find the bar they’d passed before, but he doesn’t mind the detour. Tahiti is delightful all over, and he keeps seeing things he’d missed before—a tourist shop with cute little gifts, a set of caverns down by the rocks, foreign kids and couples walking along the sand together. He wishes they had another few days here to see the whole island—maybe a free day would’ve been nice, after all—but comeback is only a few weeks away now, and they can’t afford to get too relaxed with so much work left to do.

When they finally find the bar, he orders the Berry Good smoothie for himself, partially because a berry mix is the closest thing to his protein mix flavour on a Wednesday, and partially because he’s recently been enjoying the girl group of the same name. Wonwoo gets a tropical juice along with a honey and coconut yogurt, which arrives in a dessert bowl, set between the two of them.

“Woah,” he says, looking down at the flower pattern delicately set in honey on the top of the yogurt. “It’s so cute! Wait, don’t eat it yet, I want to take a picture!”

“It’s not even your food,” Wonwoo complains, but obediently waits with his spoon in hand as Seungkwan takes a picture from above.

“It’s pretty,” he says, setting the phone down and watching as Wonwoo takes his first bite.

“Tastes good too,” he says. “Woah, really good.”

He scoops another spoonful, holding it out to Seungkwan. Seungkwan leans forwards to eat it, savouring the sweet taste in his mouth, the way he’s learned to do with food whilst maintaining his string of diets. It’s rich and creamy, but smooth in his mouth, and he sits back, making a noise of appreciation. “It’s so good. Wow.”

“Right? You should’ve got one, too.” Wonwoo eats another spoonful, then holds a second one out for Seungkwan.

“No, it’s okay. It’s yours.”

“I’m not going to finish this on my own. Have some.”

“You were planning this, weren’t you,” he grouches, leaning forward to take the mouthful anyway. “Drag Seungkwan out to get a fruit smoothie, secretly feed him up while we’re there.”

Wonwoo takes another spoonful for himself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know I can’t eat before we film.”

“You look great anyway,” Wonwoo says, holding a third spoon out for Seungkwan and smiling cheekily. “And it’s yogurt, it’s not real food. Don’t worry so much.”

He takes the mouthful, and complains at every one he takes after, but he doesn’t turn Wonwoo down. He is the one paying, after all, and Seungkwan is pretty hungry after not eating anything last night, either.

As they’re leaving—Seungkwan giving the staff as much praise as he can in his limited English on the way out—Wonwoo gets a phone call.

“Hello?”

They walk down the steps out of the smoothie bar together, and Seungkwan cups his hands around his eyes to look up at the sun. It must be about midday, now.

“Okay. Yeah, we’re not far away, so we’ll make our way there now. Okay.”

He hangs up, and Seungkwan falls into step with him. “Are they ready for us?”

“Just about, yeah. We’re going over to a restaurant to get ready for our date.”

“Wonderful,” he says. “I hope they’ll let us actually drink wine there.”

“You know they never would,” Wonwoo laughs, looking up from his phone. “The restaurant isn’t far away. Down this road, I think.”

“Well, I can dream,” he says, and they turn into the narrow side street Wonwoo had pointed to.

“Maybe we’ll try and take some home instead.”

“Now that’s an idea.”

Wonwoo smiles, and their hands brush together as they walk, and Seungkwan feels a quiet shift inside him that says _, you have a crush on Jeon Wonwoo_.

Huh. That makes sense.

-

After the stylist Noonas dress him up in a smart shirt and form-fitting jeans, smoothing his sun-warmed face out with makeup, the director sits him down on an ornate balcony table as they wait for Wonwoo. The restaurant itself is starting to fill up with tourists coming for lunch, but they must have rented out the upstairs room and balcony for filming, as it’s only him and the crew in here. It’s easily the best spot in the restaurant—the view from the balcony goes straight out to sea, where blue waves meet the clear sky, blending into an endless horizon. A generic bottle of wine is placed on the table in front of him with two wine glasses, and then Wonwoo appears, plain white shirt looking unfairly good on him, and shit, how did he not realise this whole crush thing before? That he’d like to admire this view every day of his life? That he’s become as attached to Wonwoo as one of the kittens in his adoring hotel fanbase—that his gentle soul shines all the time, but even more so when they kiss, and he would happily give him kisses every day to see it, thank you very much. It’s so obvious, now that he stops to think about it. How long has this been going on without him noticing?

“Seungkwan?” Wonwoo says, and he snaps out of it.

“Hmm?”

“I said you look nice.”

“Oh,” he says, cheeks warming slightly. By God, Soonyoung does not deserve this man. Neither does Seungkwan, though. “Thanks. You look great, too.”

“We’re ready on set,” a crew member calls out, and the cameraman hoists the main camera onto his shoulder.

“Alright, Seungkwan, Wonwoo,” the director says, coming to kneel next to them. “As you know, we’re short for time, so it would be good if we could get through things quickly, alright? The scene is easy enough. We’re going to have Wonwoo pour you both a glass of wine—it’s just fruit juice in there, so don’t worry—and then get some shots of you making conversation with each other. We’ll take some individual shots of that, and then a wide shot. It doesn’t matter what the conversation is, we don’t need any audio, but make sure to maintain eye contact with each other, and smile like you’re in love. I’m sure you’ve been briefed on your roles.”

“We’ll do our best, director-nim,” he says, and the director nods, patting Seungkwan’s arm distractedly.

“I know you will. Alright!” he stands again, walking back towards the crew. “Rolling!”

“I still wish it was real wine,” he says, and Wonwoo laughs.

“Action!”

“Wasn’t the wedding lovely, honey,” he says, as Wonwoo reaches out for the bottle.

“Beautiful. All those guests, the ceremony…. it was just like I dreamed. If only it were legal in Korea,” he says, pouring out the wine with a charming smile.

“Ah, yes, if only we weren’t systematically oppressed for being in love,” Seungkwan sighs, putting his chin on his hand. “Anyway, at least we’re going to be together in this music video, immortalised forever. Perhaps Seventeen will bring us gay rights.”

Wonwoo pours his own glass of wine and picks it up by the stem. Seungkwan does the same, and they clink their glasses together.

“Cheers to that,” he says, and then they drink, and Seungkwan tries not to laugh into his glass.

Shooting is slow work, but the others members had been right; it isn’t hard work when he’s not having to dance over and over, or run around, or time a shot exactly right—it’s just him and Wonwoo, and an awful lot of looking at each other, but the director is praising them the whole way through. Probably because Seungkwan doesn’t need much prompting to act like he’s in love with Wonwoo, and Wonwoo has always been a good actor.

“Alright, for this next shot, Seungkwan, I want you to lower your hand onto the table, casually—and then Wonwoo will take your hand, we’ll get a nice close up of that, and then you two will stand up and do a bit of dancing, just here.”

“Dancing?” Wonwoo asks.

“Yes, nothing too difficult, just some romantic swaying, that sort of thing. It wasn’t in the plan, but we’ve made good time, and they decorated this room so nicely for us.”

He’s right—the room that presumably usually holds tables has been cleared out, strung up with fairy lights and wreaths of flowers. With the afternoon sun filtering in through the windows, the place is almost glowing.

“Alright,” he says. The director steps away again, speaking to the cameraman, and Seungkwan turns back to Wonwoo. “We get more piled on us every time I turn around,” he grumbles, taking another sip of his not-wine.

“Mmm,” Wonwoo hums, looking around at the space. “I wish we could have prepared for it. I’m not the most graceful person ever.”

“You’re a dancer for your job. You’ll be fine. I’ll lead, if you like.”

“Wouldn’t you anyway?”

“Only if you wanted me to.” He can see the heteronormative bullshit direction the director has been going for so far, having Wonwoo lead in everything. When it comes down to it, though, he’d happily let Wonwoo do whatever makes him comfortable.

Wonwoo surveys him, and off to the side, the director shouts, “Rolling!”

“Alright,” he agrees, and Seungkwan sits back in his chair, preparing himself.

“Action!”

He picks up his glass with his left hand, swills the wine in the bottom and smiles at Wonwoo. “The weather sure is nice on this topical island.” His right arm lays across the table casually.

“Perfect weather to be in love,” Wonwoo agrees, and slowly lays his hand over Seungkwan’s. Then he stands, and Seungkwan looks up with his best heart eyes, placing his glass back on the table and following after him.

“Cut!” the director calls. “That was perfect, boys. Let’s get that close up, and then go to the dancing. We’ll do a continuous shot, so can we please have all non-essential crew move outside the room….”

They do the close up, and then an individual shot each, and then they stand together, Wonwoo pulling Seungkwan out onto the dance floor as the camera backs up to track them around the room.

This is where he leads. “Put your hands on my waist,” he says, and places his own hands behind Wonwoo’s neck. “Let’s just move like this.” He steps to the side, small and careful, taking Wonwoo with him. It’s almost laughable, trying to dance with no music to accompany them, but not too awkward—they’ve held each other like this several times over the past few weeks, after all.

The camera continues to track them around, circling them as they move together. “Here, we could try this too,” he says, skimming his fingers down Wonwoo’s arm until he reaches his hand. “Do you want to twirl me?” he asks, and Wonwoo shoots him a shy smile, brings his arm up so that Seungkwan can twirl under it. “Okay, now you,” he says, and Wonwoo laughs, twirls under Seungkwan’s arm as well. “Well done.”

“Who knew you were the master at romantic dancing?” Wonwoo says, placing his hands on Seungkwan’s hips again.

He rests his face against Wonwoo’s shoulder, hands wrapped around his back. “I’m full of surprises,” he says against Wonwoo’s neck, and the two of them sway for another minute more. It’s almost peaceful. If they were the only ones here, he thinks he would lean up to kiss Wonwoo right now.

“Cut!” the director says, clapping for them as they untangle themselves. “Wonderful work, just great—we’re going to get a few more shots like that and then wrap up on the restaurant. We’ve made great time. Keep on going as you are, boys.”

He bites his lip as the camera is reset. Wonwoo stands next to him, waiting to be given permission to touch Seungkwan again.

-

As the crew walk down to the beach together, it’s quiet between him and Wonwoo. Seungkwan wonders what he’s thinking about. The short reprieve from filming is welcome—he’d been getting hot in that room, pressed so close to Wonwoo as the sun shone in on them. It wasn’t unpleasant, acting like that with him, just slightly embarrassing to do so in front of the crew. He’s glad to be done with that scene.

He’s still kind of reeling from his earlier realisation, has been trying to bury it all afternoon, but the present silence allows his worries to come crawling right back. It had taken a ten-day kissing pact for him to realise his crushing feelings for Wonwoo, and now he has to act like they’re reciprocated for the camera, and then… they’ll be done. They’ll go back to being friends again, with Seungkwan knowing what he knows. It’s not like he can even vent about all of this to any of the others, because he knows they’ll laugh at him for being a colossal idiot. It’s typical, really, that this is how things go in the life of Boo Seungkwan. Everything happens in the most ridiculous, inconvenient, and hilariously tragic way possible. He’s been making out with the boy he likes—and only just realised it this morning—but Wonwoo has had someone else on his mind the whole time. He wonders if Soonyoung even knows.

A jaunty voice calls over the rocks as beach comes into view. “Hello, Hyungs!”

“Lee Chan?” Wonwoo calls back, surprised.

“Bet you’re glad to see me,” Chan says. He’s sitting by the rocks with the makeup Noonas, grinning at them both as they approach. “The others wanted to come and watch you guys filming, but manager-hyung is keeping them under guard at the hotel right now. The staff are stressed about getting things done on time, and they didn’t want you to have more distractions.”

“Did they forget that you’re here, being your usual self?” Seungkwan asks.

“No, but I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done about that,” Chan says sweetly. “It’s my scene too, after all.”

“Oh, of course,” Wonwoo says, before the stylist Noonas swoop down to fix them both up before the next scene.

It’s straightforward, from there out. The director has them walk up the beach as the sun starts to set over the waves, colouring the light gold; the camera tracks them from the front, from the back, from the side. He holds Wonwoo’s hand, and they take a few long shots of Chan standing behind them in the distance—something to do with the wider plot of the music video. He doesn’t bother asking about it, too busy working himself up to the scene he knows is coming next.

“Let’s work twice as fast to get this shot on time, everyone!” the director calls, anxiously looking out to the setting sun. “Wonwoo, Seungkwan—we need a kiss between the two of you now. You’re going to walk together, then stop in front of the sunset—turn to each other, kiss sweetly, hold hands. Then you walk over and sit on that part of the beach, lean against the rock, and watch the sunset together. Do you think you can do that?”

“Yep,” he says, and Wonwoo nods. They’re far more prepared for this than the director could imagine.

“We’ll get it done quickly, don’t worry. Stand by!”

He looks behind them, slightly reassured at the sight of Chan being occupied by a makeup Noona.

“Action!”

They walk a little further down the beach, the sand cooling between Seungkwan’s toes. The camera pulls to the side, coming up behind them with the sunset dead ahead, and Wonwoo stops, pulling Seungkwan around to face him. Seungkwan looks up at him, and thinks that he looks so beautiful like this, sunset kissing his skin, light reflecting in his eyes.

Wonwoo cups his cheek with one hand, eyes raking over his face as they lean close together. Seungkwan looks down at his mouth, and then glances up at his eyes, the sunlight reflected back in them—and then they meet in a sweet kiss, slow and easy. Seungkwan puts his hand on Wonwoo’s waist, moving closer to better push up against him. Wonwoo’s lips feel soft, and he wonders if he’d brought the lip balm to Tahiti.

When they pull back, Seungkwan flashes his prettiest smile up at him, aware of the camera beside them.

“Cut!” the director shouts. “Great work guys, that looked great—we’re going to go for a closer shot next, but do you think you could tone it down a little? Your chemistry is great, but if we put a kiss like that in the music video, the rating will probably have to go up.”

Seungkwan blinks at him. “The rating?” The kiss was hardly scandalous. It surely wasn’t half as salacious as some of their practise kisses have been.

“Kiss like you’re young, inexperienced. Something more innocent.”

“We’re supposed to be on a honeymoon,” Wonwoo says.

“Yes, well—” the director flails his hands, like the details are out of his control. “We just need to tone it down a bit, alright?”

Seungkwan nods, and the director runs back to speak to a producer.

“Seems like we practised too well,” he murmurs.

Wonwoo laughs. “We really are overqualified.”

The kiss is a little more innocent in the next run through, Seungkwan blatantly aware of the camera on his face, and then they have to do it again for Wonwoo’s shot. Chan is freed just before the director asks them once more to tone it down, going for one last wide shot before the sun disappears beyond the waves. He starts hollering at them from behind the crew, laughter ringing out over the set.

“Let’s not get too saucy now, Hyungs!”

He’s sufficiently hot and embarrassed by the time they settle down for the final shot, sitting by the rocks together, but he does his best to be professional about it until the end. He rests his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder, and when they’re asked to lie down, Wonwoo pulls him closer into his chest. If he shuts his eyes, he can almost imagine they’re finally alone and resting after this long, stressful day.

He almost does fall asleep as they’re lying there, waiting for Chan to be done with his shots around the two of them. What an unrealistic, unsafe thing for their characters to do, he thinks, sleep on a beach as tourists on a foreign island. It’s far easier to film this than the kiss was, though, so he can’t complain too much. He’ll just lie against Wonwoo’s chest and pretend to sleep. Easy.

“Alright, that’s a wrap for today!” the director calls, encouraging a round of applause, and the crew half-heartedly join in. Seungkwan sits up, a little dazed by how quickly it had gotten dark while he had his eyes shut.

“Thank you!” he calls out, stumbling to his feet to bow for the crew. “Thank you for your work!”

“We’re regrouping in about five hours for the morning shots, but there’s not much left to do now,” the director informs them. “Go back quickly and get some sleep. Well done, everyone!”

“It’s barely worth leaving, is it?” he grumbles. “What’s the point of washing all this makeup off just to put it on again in five hours?”

“It’s worth it for five hours of sleep,” Wonwoo says, rubbing his eyes. “We’d only sweat it off in that time, anyway.”

They help the crew pack up before they all walk back down the beach together, the hotel not too far from their filming location. At some point, Chan catches up with the two of them.

“You guys did well, you know.” When Seungkwan side-eyes him, he puts his hands up in self-defence. “I’m really not saying that to tease! Your shots looked so good on the monitor, I bet they’re going to come out great in the music video. Seriously!”

Wonwoo smiles. “Thanks, Chan.”

“The video is going to be amazing when it’s done, if they’ve still got five other concepts left to film,” he says. “I’m excited to see them all.”

“Hopefully ours will be good enough alongside the secret agents, and whatever else,” Seungkwan says. “The restaurant was pretty, I suppose.”

“No, I really think your concept will be the highlight, from what I saw. Seriously. Fans will love this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! For sure. You underestimate yourself.”

Then they step into the hotel entrance, and he can hear the tell-tale sound of Jeonghan’s voice waiting for them in the bottom floor corridor. Chan’s genuine expression morphs into a teasing grin, and he runs ahead to announce their return.

“The beach team are back!”

“Oh, how was it?” Jeonghan asks, and they turn into the corridor to see Jeonghan and Seokmin sitting opposite Soonyoung and Mingyu on the floor, all four faces looking up at them expectantly.

“Fantastic. They did great,” Chan says, turning to look at them too.

He thinks he’d be sufficiently more embarrassed if things were awkward between him and Wonwoo. The thing is, they’re fine—it stopped being awkward after their second or third kiss together, over a week ago. They’re both comfortable with all the touching, they’re on the same page with this whole concept, and they understand that they have roles to play. They worked through the idea together. It’s the rest of the group that are still wriggling at the thought of having to kiss a friend—but he supposes he’s never really been kissing a friend. He’s been kissing Wonwoo.

“Yeah, it went fine,” he says, hands on hips. “I heard you were trying to get down there and spy on us, huh? Unbelievable. You can’t trust anyone these days.”

“You would’ve done the same, though,” Wonwoo says, and Seungkwan hits his arm.

“Did you get any videos?” Jeonghan asks Chan, and Seungkwan looks up, scandalised.

“Don’t tell me you did, or I swear—”

“Maybe,” Chan grins, opening his hotel door. “We’ll see if it comes in useful.”

“No, you have to show us!” Mingyu says, standing up.

“Lee Chan!” Seungkwan shouts.

He meets Chan’s sparkling eyes right before he shuts the door to his hotel room. “Goodnight, Hyungs!”

“Wow, you really can’t trust anyone,” Wonwoo says, and Seungkwan hits him again.

“Exactly! This is what I’m trying to tell you!” He goes to unlock their own hotel door with a sigh, put-upon and betrayed.

“Really though. Was it okay?” Seokmin asks, earnest.

“Yeah, it was really fine,” Wonwoo reassures him. “You guys are probably going to be doing a lot more adventurous stuff in your shoots.”

“Maybe,” Soonyoung says, looking between the two of them. “Good job, today. You’ve worked hard.”

“Thanks,” Wonwoo says, and then Seungkwan pushes into their hotel room, holding the door open for him.

“Goodnight,” he says pointedly, and the others chorus it back. Wonwoo steps into the room, and Seungkwan shuts the door behind them.

Things are quiet between them as they wash up. He pulls on his night clothes and passes the broken bed without a second thought, curling up in Wonwoo’s bed and waiting for him to finish in the bathroom.

He wonders what exactly they’re supposed to do, now. Do they have to say something to mark the end of their friends-with-kissing-benefits pact? Do they pretend it never happened? He’d never told anyone else about it, and it seems like Wonwoo didn’t either, apart from the slip with Minghao. Is this their dirty secret for life? Maybe it’ll be a joke, several years down the line—a funny anecdote they’ll tell on a variety show. Maybe it’ll never be anything more than a memory for Wonwoo, something silly to look back on.

“You really need to confess tomorrow, you know,” Wonwoo says, and Seungkwan snaps his head up.

“Huh?”

“About the bed. You shouldn’t leave without telling the hotel staff about it.”

“Oh, right,” he says, nodding. “I’ve been meaning to, but I feel bad.”

“It’s not like it was you that broke the bed.”

“No, but I think I made it worse.”

“You’ll be fine,” Wonwoo says, turning the light off climbing into his side of the bed. “I’ll get the cats to vouch for you.”

“Thanks,” he says, half-whispering into the dark. The curtains are left partially open, and moonlight streaks through the room, spilling onto the bed. It’s quiet between them for a minute, and Wonwoo’s breathing starts to even out, like he’s falling asleep already.

He can’t stand it. He can’t bring himself to accept that he won’t ever have this again. He might have only realised the weight of his feelings this morning, but maybe that’s why he feels like his heart is in his throat—because it was over before he even knew what he had. These feelings have been hanging around for a while, but only now does he have the clarity to grasp what he can do with them. His instincts say: be honest. Communicate.

He takes in a deep breath. “So, is it over then?”

“Hmm?” Wonwoo’s voice rumbles in the dark.

“You know. Our practising. We’re back to normal now?”

Wonwoo is quiet for a moment, and Seungkwan shifts onto his side to look at him. He can just make out his form under the bedsheets, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. “I suppose so. We shot our scene already. There’s no need, right?”

He sits up in the bed. “Do you like Soonyoung?”

Wonwoo looks over at him, then. “What?”

“Soonyoung, you said you expected it to be him. To do this role with you.”

Wonwoo lays very still. “Did I?”

He makes an exasperated noise. “Yes, you did. Don’t you remember? It was late, and we were tired, so maybe you didn’t mean to say it. It’s alright, though. I figured out that you like him. I’m sorry for making you do this with me for weeks when you were hoping for him. But I hope things can still be okay with us, now. I feel like we’ve gotten closer through all this, and I don’t want to lose that.”

Wonwoo sits up too, turns on the lamp beside the bed. It casts light over his face, illuminates his disbelief. “Seungkwan, I think you got the wrong idea from somewhere. I like Soonyoung only as much as I like any of the others. I didn’t mean anything by that comment.”

“I heard you talking to Minghao the other day,” he says, and then Wonwoo’s face changes, smooths out at the edges. “I know you like someone in the group. Maybe it’s not Soonyoung, but whoever it is, this whole thing has gotten in the way, right? You can’t confess to someone when you’re going around kissing me in secret.”

“Seungkwan…” Wonwoo pulls his knees up to his chest, gripping them in his hands. “It’s not like that. You’ve not been a burden. If anything, I haven’t been completely honest with you.”

“Really?” he says, voice pitching. “That’s funny, because I haven’t been all that honest with myself either.”

Wonwoo turns to pick up his glasses, sliding them up his nose and sitting back to look at Seungkwan properly. “Are you okay?”

“I convinced myself this whole thing was for work,” he blurts out, fiddling with his fingers. “But it’s not. I don’t think it ever was.” He takes another breath, and then two, and then his words come tumbling out. “Wonwoo, if I said I’d like to carry on kissing you for a long time into the future, and that I’d like to go back to more smoothie bars with you, and go on walks without cameras, and visit restaurants without a director over our shoulders, and call you my boyfriend without it being a role or a joke… would you call me crazy?”

Wonwoo is looking at him like he’s seeing something new cresting over the horizon. “Oh my god.”

“I know I sound crazy, but when I first heard Minghao talking about confessing to someone, I couldn’t help but wonder…”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo says. “You’re right. Seungkwan, I really like you. Seriously. Ever since last year. You’re a really amazing person, and at some point I found myself thinking about you way too much.” He lifts his shoulders as if trying to hide in them, the honesty colouring his ears pink. “I thought I’d gotten over those feelings enough to do this with you, but as soon as I kissed you in the bathroom… I realised they weren’t gone at all. But you were so serious about the whole thing, I didn’t know if it meant anything to you.”

“You minx!” he exclaims, delighted and relieved beyond measure. “You’ve been business-only kissing me this whole time whilst secretly harbouring your crush?”

“It’s not like we’ve been all that bland or professional!” Wonwoo protests. “I can’t say no to you, and you were the one who suggested it! If you’d asked me about feelings before this, I probably would’ve spilled everything. But I thought you had no idea.”

“I didn’t! I really thought Minghao meant Soonyoung!”

“When have I ever shown interest in Soonyoung?”

“When have you ever shown interest in me?”

“We’ve been making out for weeks!”

“Well, I suppose you’re right about that,” he says, putting his hands on Wonwoo’s shoulders and pulling him into a sure kiss. Wonwoo grips him around his waist, and Seungkwan shuffles forwards, properly straddling his lap this time. He uses the new leverage to take Wonwoo’s head in his hands, tilting it back and pressing down into him. For the first time, he kisses Wonwoo without any burden—it’s not for a camera, for practise, for fans or out of obligation. He kisses him, and smiles into it, knowing that this won’t be the last. Knowing that Wonwoo is his boyfriend.

“Hey,” he says, pulling away. “This makes us boyfriends now, right?”

Wonwoo nods up at him, slightly dazed under Seungkwan’s weight, hair messed from where his hands have been running through it. “Yeah,” he says, breaking into a beaming smile. “I would really like that.”

“Good,” he says, shifting a little. Wonwoo’s mouth looks pink and pretty under the gentle lamplight. “I know we have to be up again in four and a half hours, but are you okay with making out for a bit? Because I think you’re really hot and that it would be very productive.”

“Fine by me,” Wonwoo says, and Seungkwan kisses him again, kisses his mouth and bites down on his lip, kisses along his jaw and down his neck, feels warm all over when Wonwoo’s grip skims down his side, pulls him up by his thighs.

“Let’s not go too far tonight,” he says, once Wonwoo is laid back in the pillows and Seungkwan is kissing across his cheek, and he can feel Wonwoo’s interest resting against his leg, his own also obvious against Wonwoo’s hip. “I just want to be with you.”

Wonwoo pulls him in, kisses his tingling lips. “That sounds great to me. I’m used to this, anyway.”

Seungkwan pushes himself up, bracketing Wonwoo’s head with his hands. “Hey. Have I put you through a hard time by kissing you?”

“A hard time?” Wonwoo asks, eyebrows raised. “Yes. A difficult time? Absolutely not. You have the best ideas.”

“Stop,” he says, laughing, and kisses him again.

When they’re kiss-worn and sated, and the night is starting to give way to pale sunlight, he settles down at Wonwoo’s side. “Let’s try to sleep for a little bit so we don’t have black eyes at tomorrow’s shoot.”

Wonwoo kisses his forehead, then reaches out to switch the lamp off. “Goodnight, Seungkwan.”

He smiles into the skin of Wonwoo’s shoulder. “Goodnight, boyfriend.”

-

It’s three days until comeback, and they’re huddled around a computer in the empty meeting room, waiting to watch a final edit of the music video. Several of them are sitting on desk chairs around the monitor, and the rest of them squeezed in the space around the chairs, battling for a fair view of the screen.

“Ready?” Seungcheol asks, and there’s a noisy response of agreement from the group as Seungkwan elbows Mingyu aside. He’s too tall to be stood at the front.

Seungcheol starts the video, and it instantly opens up with a stunning shot of Jeonghan and Jun’s fantasy set—a wide lake, framed by a deep green forest, accented by pretty lights hovering in the sky. Jeonghan comes into view as the song starts, long glimmering hair thrown over his shoulder, the scales up his body glittering like the water around him.

“Oh, hyung!” he exclaims, as several of the others let out appreciative whoops and shouts. The song starts to pick up, and then Jihoon comes zooming onto the screen.

There’s a lot going on, and he hadn’t been at any of the other filming sites, so it’s his first time seeing all the other concepts—they’re all stunning, contrasting each other sharply and creating a fast-paced storyline. It’s almost jarring when his own face appears among them, smiling at Wonwoo on a beautiful Tahiti balcony.

The others react appropriately, and he gets a little warm in the cheeks watching Tahiti-Wonwoo smile at Tahiti-Seungkwan under the sun—and then their concept is gone. With all six concepts compressed into their three-minute video, he’s witnessing Minghao flip off an impressive height before he even has the time to consider how their scene looked.

The two of them are back again in the second verse, his own soft vocals accompanied by Wonwoo’s handsome smile on screen, the two of them walking hand-in-hand down the beach. There’s a cut of Seungkwan twirling under Wonwoo’s arm, laughing, and then they cut back to the beach, where Wonwoo pulls him closer—their faces are inches apart, and he can see his eyes trained on Wonwoo’s mouth…

And then the chorus kicks in, and they’re watching Joshua shoot down the enemy, storming into a stronghold with Seungcheol at his heels, their arms gratuitously on show under army vests.

“Did they cut it out?” Jeonghan asks immediately, looking up at editor sat by them. “The kiss, is it cut out?”

“Watch the rest of it,” Seungcheol urges. “You missed my part!”

They’re back again during the slower bridge part, before the final chorus—the two of them waking up on the beach, Seungkwan blinking up at the rising sun with a smile. He shakes Wonwoo awake, and drags him onto his feet, and then they run into the waves together, splashing water at each other and laughing.

He can’t help but smile, remembering it. The water had been freezing, that time, and he’d come out of the sea shaking and complaining. Wonwoo had wrapped him in a towel, picked him up, and carried him back to the car, depositing him on the seat and helping him dry his feet. That morning, he’d decided he was probably in love with Jeon Wonwoo.

The final chorus kicks in, and Vernon scores his goal, and the crowd goes wild—Chan shows Jeonghan how to use his new legs—Mingyu and Jihoon land the killing blow on their monster. The song comes to an end, as does the music video, and he finds himself looking around at the others, somewhat overwhelmed.

“That was awesome,” Jihoon says first.

Seokmin quickly agrees. “I wasn’t sure how they were going to pull all that off, but it was so cool! I want to watch it again already!”

“This is totally new for us, but I think people will love it,” Soonyoung says, and Vernon puts an arm around his shoulders, nodding fervently.

“No one will be expecting this,” Mingyu says, enthusiastic as ever. “It’s going to be a hit!”

“Wait,” Seungkwan says, looking over at the editor, ready to take note of their feedback. “So you really did cut out the kiss?”

“There was a lot of discussion about that in the company,” she says, soft-spoken. “It was decided that keeping the kiss scene in would put the whole video at risk of an age rating restriction, or of it being banned from some networks. We think it’s clear what your concept is without it.”

“You’re kidding,” he says, half-laughing.

“It’s been agreed that your concept should stay as it is—your scenes are really down to earth, which is helpful to break up some of the flashier concepts. We really wanted your feedback on the fantasy concept, which has a little more screen time than the rest, and the sports concept, which has a little less—do you think that’s fair, considering the scenery and storyline in each?”

Vernon starts giving the editor an honest answer, but Seungkwan tunes out, looking around for Wonwoo. He’s sat on the far side of the line of chairs, looking back at Seungkwan already, shoulders shaking as he quietly laughs to himself.

Seungkwan starts to laugh too, leaning against Mingyu for support. He’s not angry that their kiss had been cut—a little annoyed, maybe, that all that anxiety and waiting was for nothing—but it’s relieving to know that no one else will see that footage, that his kisses with Wonwoo can be kept for himself.

After various members give the editor their feedback, she bows to them in thanks, and makes to leave the room.

“Is it okay if we stay and watch it again?” Jeonghan asks.

“Yes, that’s fine. Watch it as much as you like.”

“Thank you!” Soonyoung calls out after her, and Jeonghan has the video playing again before the door has even shut behind her.

“This is crazy,” Chan says, leaning on Minghao’s shoulders to get a good look. “It’s so cool. This is definitely my favourite music video we’ve ever done.”

“It’s a shame about how much got cut out,” Jun says, watching the replay with rapt attention. “I had a scene by the lake with Jeonghan, but it looks like they completely separated our characters in editing.”

“Right, I liked that scene,” Jeonghan murmurs. “Shame about Seungkwan and Wonwoo too.”

“After all that fuss,” he agrees. “They got us all worked up about it for nothing!”

“Well, not for nothing. The footage still exists,” Chan says.

“Right, you definitely have to show us the video now, Chan,” Mingyu says. “If you saw, you should let all of us see, too.”

“I didn’t know I had a bunch of voyeurs as friends,” Seungkwan says, crossing his arms and leaning out to size up Mingyu.

“If we don’t see, how will we ever know the truth about your kissing skills, Seungkwan?” Jeonghan asks, flashing him a cheeky grin.

“You should just believe me!” he says, hotly. Then he meets Wonwoo’s smiling eyes, sees the idea held in them, and starts pushing his way to the other side of their huddle. “Or you could just ask, I suppose?”

“Sure,” Wonwoo grins, holding out a hand to pull him closer. When Seungkwan makes it through, he reaches up to cup the back of his head and pull him down, firmly kissing him on the mouth. They land it well, despite the angle, but he ends up laughing into it at the sound the others make—a clamour of surprised shouts and general amazement rises above the sound of their new track.

He and Wonwoo had agreed to tell the others about their relationship after seeing the kiss on screen for the first time. With it being cut, he figures this is the next best dramatic outing they can do.

“My poor eyes,” Minghao says, turning back to the otherwise abandoned music video. “You could’ve given me some warning, you know.”

“Hey!” Seungcheol says, lost for words. “What—just what are you two doing!”

“Leader,” Seungkwan says, delicately sitting on Wonwoo’s lap. “Do we have to come to you for permission for this? Your blessing, or something? Because we’re dating, now. Just so you know.”

“For real?” Soonyoung squeaks.

“For real.” Wonwoo confirms, holding Seungkwan in place with an arm around his waist. “I hope that’s not going to make anything weird for you guys.”

“Oh, Wonwoo,” Jeonghan says, eyes glinting. “Believe me, this is amazing.”

“When did this happen?” Seokmin asks, delighted. “Seriously! I never would have expected this!”

“It was an outcome of various things,” he says. “The important thing is, we wanted to keep this a secret from anyone else for a little while longer, but we thought you guys should know first. You’re family, after all. Even if you are a family of voyeurs.”

“That’s just Jeonghan and Mingyu,” Joshua says. “The rest of us aren’t such pests.”

“The pests are very happy for you,” Jeonghan says. “But I hope you realise that I will be teasing you about this for all of the foreseeable future.”

“I wouldn’t expect any less,” he says.

He can’t help but smile, looking around his boys, all of them looking back without judgement. Plenty of surprise, he thinks, but it seems to be the good kind—the excitement of something new.

“We’ll support you guys,” Jihoon confirms, voice level. “You know we will. This is great, seriously. Maybe you can come and write some of the love songs for the next album.”

“It’s not been that long,” he says, but he’s grinning now, a little overwhelmed by it all. He’d expected doubt, caution, words of warning. He’s sure they’re to come once the others realise what this could mean for the group. But first and foremost, they have their blessing, and their love. That’s all he could hope for.

He catches Minghao giving Wonwoo a small smile, and looks back to see Wonwoo returning it. He turns his face up to look at Seungkwan, giving him a peck on the lips; Seungkwan wraps his arms around his neck, leaning into him and beaming.

“I can’t believe this,” Chan says. “Now that video is worth nothing. They’re gonna be making out all over the place.”

“And I hope you enjoy the view,” Seungkwan says, leaning in to kiss Wonwoo again, feeling his smile against his own.

**Author's Note:**

> after that svt get a new dorm with their own rooms so that wonboo can have sex in peace in seungkwan's room and live happily ever after!!!
> 
> as someone who is not very confident in writing kissing scenes this was an interesting write lol  
> hope u enjoyed this fluff fest!! it sure was fun to get that out of my system and give to the wonboo tag. i love them. if you could leave a kudos/comment to let me know that you enjoyed it, i would rly appreciate it <3
> 
> you can yell at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/hope_boos), with further links in my pinned  
> you can also rt this fic [here!](https://twitter.com/hope_boos/status/1279826676684374016?s=20)  
> and as always, thank u to my beta [rachel](https://twitter.com/koyahyah)
> 
> this is my most fanfiction-esque title ever but i really got nothing better lol


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